An anonymous law enforcement official told the Associated Press that he sent a video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée, Janay Palmer, in a Revel Hotel and Casino elevator back on April 9.
Roger Goodell's future as NFL commissioner keeps getting murkier. On Wednesday afternoon the AP broke a story that the NFL, or at least an NFL executive, saw the recently released Ray Rice video five months ago. Additionally, the anonymous law enforcement official provided a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number that confirmed the arrival of the video. And once again, the league claims its ignorance on the issue:
"We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on Monday. We will look into it," the league said in a statement, via this CBS News article, following the most recent news.
In the voicemail, a female thanks the law enforcement official and replies, "You're right. It's terrible." This is the second female allegedly involved in keeping this graphic video out of the public eye, which has culminated into an enormous scandal involving the NFL, the Atlantic City Police Department and the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office. The first was assistant prosecutor Diane Rupert. It was known the Atlantic City Police Department as well as Ray Rice's attorneys obtained a copy of the video, which has created doubt that the NFL was unable to do so, despite their numerous claims stating otherwise.
Earlier today, Terry O'Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women called for Roger Goodell to step down as commissioner of the NFL. Her timing couldn't have been better, as this latest news broke shortly thereafter. The NFL says it's now looking into the AP report, but O'Neill believes that the league should hire an independent investigator from this point on due to the myriad inconsistencies that have been brought into the spotlight.
Things are getting even worse for Rice too, as ESPN's Outside the Lines reported that the running back also spat at his then-fiancée twice that same night on February 15, based on what one current and one former Revel security employee said.
The NFL should be issuing another statement soon regarding the allegations of its possession of the video tape.
