The Associated Press has announced today that the NFL headquarters did receive the CCTV footage of Ray Rice punching his now-wife in April, despite Roger Goodell claiming otherwise. The AP has been played a 12 second voicemail of a member of staff from the NFL thanking the police for the video along with confirmation that ‘It’s terrible’. This contradicts the statement made by the NFL commissioner to CBS on Tuesday that “no one in the NFL, in my knowledge” had seen the video. This was re-affirmed by an NFL spokesman today, who said that that “We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video” before it was released on Monday.
Report: NFL given Ray Rice video in April
(For more on the original report from Monday, and the outrage that ensued, be sure to read Anthony Murphy’s article ‘Ray Rice: How We All Got It Wrong’)
Considering many questioned how the NFL had not been able to get the video before TMZ as they originally claimed, this report puts the NFL in an even worse situation. The big question that has to be asked is how on earth the video was given to the NFL in some form, without the Commissioner (or other senior figures) seeing it. Considering the seriousness of the allegations made against Ray Rice, there is not possible justification for the video not to be used as part of their investigation. In my opinion, there are only a few possible reasons, and none put the NFL in good light.
Firstly, it is possible that the video did not make it past the member of staff who received it, or her manager. This is the least embarrassing possible sequence of events for those at the top of the NFL, as most of the blame is directed at relatively junior staff. But it still suggests major issues with the sharing of vital information within the NFL, and the command structure of the head offices.
There could also be a logistical error to blame, with the video simply being lost at one point or another. But how does such a big organization loose such an important piece of information? It is not easy to do accidentally, and would again suggest serious structural problems within the offices.
The final, and worst possible situation, is that that all of the relevant members of staff did in fact see the video, yet gave a two-game ban regardless. If this is the case, then it is impossible to see Goodell staying in his position for much longer. There are already calls for him to be removed from his post (67% of people of those asked on ESPN.com think Goodell should resign or be fired), and these would intensify if it was confirmed that the Commissioner did see the video. If he is to successfully fulfill his role as the head of the biggest sports league in America, he has to stay honest, reliable and fair. He certainly hasn’t shown those qualities over the past few days.
But even if he didn’t see the video, it is hard to see him staying. As the head of the league, it is his job to stay on top of such situations and punish them fairly. With public opinion against him, the only way he can stay in the role is through strong support from the owners, and I am sure that may only last so long.
If the AP report is true, and Goodell did see the video, there could also be major implications for Ray Rice and his punishment. If Goodell had seen the video, then the new indefinite suspension could be voided as it would be classed as double jeopardy. Although Rice would still find it tough to get a second chance immediately due to the damage to his reputation as a result of this scandal, it does put Goodell in an even worse situation.
Whatever the fallout over the next few days, the newest allegations suggest major issues within the NFL offices. There has clearly been negligence by somebody somewhere, and as a result, I expect quite a few people to lose their jobs over the next few days. Whether one of those is the commissioner is yet to be seen.
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