A harrowing video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiancee’ in an Atlantic City casino elevator was posted by TMZ.com early Monday morning, sending shockwaves around the country — including in the NFL commissioner’s office.
According to a source, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who had not seen the horrific video showing Rice cold-cocking Janay Palmer before handing down a two-game suspension that was blasted for being too soft, is reviewing the new evidence that was posted by the gossip website around 4 a.m. Monday.
"We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator. That video was not made available to us. And no one in our office has seen it until today," the NFL said in a statement.
The video shows Rice and Palmer, who are now married, getting into an elevator inside the Revel Casino on Feb. 15, and within seconds after the door closing, Palmer approaches Rice, who knocks her out with a left hook to the chin. Palmer falls to the ground, and when the doors open, Rice drags her unconscious body into the hallway, where they are met by a security guard.
Video of Rice dragging her out of the elevator went public shortly after the incident, but Monday was the first time footage of inside the elevator was released.
Patrick Semansky/AP Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (l.), his daughter Rayven and wife Janay Palmer arrive at a screening for a film on the team's championship season. At the time of Rice’s arrest, his attorney, Andrew Alperstein, termed the allegations a “very minor physical altercation” with Palmer.
Goodell took so much heat for his light two-game suspension of Rice that on Aug. 29 he instituted a new domestic abuse policy, where a first-time offender would get a six-game suspension and a second offense could lead to a lifetime ban.
In a memo to owners, he said he “didn’t get it right” when it came to Rice’s slap on the wrist and “domestic violence and sexual assault are wrong. They are illegal. They are never acceptable and have no place in the NFL under any circumstances.”
In addition to getting off easy with the NFL, Rice, a former Rutgers star from New Rochelle, skated when it came to the law as well.
On May 20, he was accepted into a pretrial intervention program to avoid aggravated assault charges.
On that day, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain said: “This decision was arrived at after careful consideration of the information contained in Mr. Rice’s application in light of all of the facts gathered during the investigation.
After considering all relevant information in light of applicable law, it was determined that this was the appropriate disposition.”
Once Rice completes the one year program, the third-degree assault charge will be dropped,
“Mr. Rice is extremely happy the matter is behind him,” Rice’s attorney, Michael Diamondstein, told USA TODAY Sports.
The Atlantic County prosecutor's office said they had no comment when contacted by the Daily News on the release of the new video.
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