NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is caught up in a web of lies. Either that, or he and the NFL are caught up in a flurry of incompetence. Quite frankly, it might be a combination of the two.
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There are layers and layers of problems with what Goodell is claiming did and did not happen in the NFL’s “investigation” of the domestic abuse case with former Baltimore Ravens’ running back Ray Rice. Among those concerns is the fact that the league claimed to have not seen the tape of Rice’s actual assault in the elevator of an Atlantic City Casino.
Either the league is lying that they have not seen it, a distinct possibility given a report from the Associated Press that law enforcement sent to the tape to the league, or they did not try to acquire it.
When it comes to the latter, Goodell tried to claim that the league asked law enforcement for the tape and did not get it. As support for that claim, Goodell said that it was illegal for the NFL to request the tape from the casino, so they didn’t.
It’s not illegal. To find that out, TMZ asked New Jersey Attorney General Paul Loriquet. His response? “No, it’s not illegal.”
As far as the problems with Goodell’s claims over the last few days, this is secondary to the fact that the NFL was reported to have seen it and the fact that the NFL had to see the video at all to know what happened. Even still, this is just another ding to the NFL’s credibility in a situation that they have utterly and completed screwed up.