NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is standing firm that he handled Ray Rice's initial suspension with only limited information — and knew nothing about the more damning footage showing Rice punching his now-wife in a casino elevator. In an interview Wednesday, Goodell said, his decision in July to suspend Rice for only two games this season was based on an account of what happened given by the disgraced Ravens running back.
That description “was not consistent with what the videotape was,” Goodell said Wednesday after attending a football practice at Wake Forest High School in North Carolina.
Goodell made the comment before an Associated Press report released later Wednesday claimed police first sent the elevator footage to the league's offices in April. Goodell has maintained that officials had only seen an edited version of the elevator footage that was made public, and never watched a complete tape until it was leaked by the gossip website TMZ this week.
Rice was suspended indefinitely Monday from the NFL, and Goodell faces a growing chorus to resign over his credibility.
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