Before the NFL told Rice that his indefinite suspension resulted from an alleged starkly different account, Commission Roger Goodell said only that the information from Rice had been ambiguous, an explanation that is starkly different from starkly different.
[W]hen we met with Ray Rice and his representatives, it was ambiguous about what actually happened, Goodell told Norah ODonnell of CBS Evening News .
But what was ambiguous about her laying unconscious on the floor being dragged out by her feet? ODonnell replied.
There was nothing ambiguous about that, Goodell said. That was the result that we saw. We did not know what led up to that. We did not know the details of that. We asked for that on several occasions.
But, as Judge Jones found, the NFL never asked Rice for the video, even though Rice had direct access to the video. And Janay Rice now tells NBCs TODAY that Ray gave the league the information that it wanted.
Was Ray ambiguous? Matt Lauer asked Janay Rice in an interview that aired on Monday.
No, she said. Not in any way. And, you know, I feel like if they wanted to know more details then they would have asked. But there were no further questions. It its been consistent with everything that hes been saying since February.
So when the Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, says Ray was ambiguous and the NFL says that it was a starkly different sequence of events, is the Commissioner lying? Lauer said.
I cant say hes tellingthe truth, Janay Rice said. I know for a fact that he told that Ray told the honest truth that hes been telling from February.
The truth was, and remains, that Ray and Janay entered an elevator and by the time the door opened again Janay was knocked out. The league opted to suspend Ray only two games without seeing what it looked like, even though the NFL knew what happened. She was knocked out. And its not pretty when someone gets knocked out.
Thats why the lingering question of whether the NFL had the video before it was released doesnt matter. The NFL didnt need the video. If former FBI director Robert Mueller realizes that while drafting his report, couldnt the impact be the same as a finding by Mueller that the league had actually seen the video?
I cant say hes tellingthe truth, Janay Rice said. I know for a fact that he told that Ray told the honest truth that hes been telling from February.
I agree..I have noticed in every picture of them, her head is always hanging, as if in fear.