Video After The Jump
Since 2006 when he was hired as the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell has made it clear that you either do things his way or hit the highway.
He implemented new rules regarding player conduct and handed out numerous fines and suspensions. When Goodell punished the New Orleans Saints in 2012 for the bounty scandal he told them ignorance was no excuse.
Now he finds himself in a similar situation. He has repeatedly denied seeing video of Ray Rice knocking out his then fiancee, Janay Palmer, prior to TMZ publishing it earlier this week.
"We assumed that there was a video. We asked for video. But we were never granted that opportunity," Goodell told CBS on Tuesday.
Rice was suspended for 2 games by the league initially. After the video went viral he was cut by the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
A new Associated Press report cites unnamed sources as saying the video was delivered to the NFL in April. The AP also heard a 12-second voicemail from someone in the NFL office from April 9, confirming the tape had arrived and been viewed. A female voice expresses thanks and says: "You're right. It's terrible."
That means Goodell is either lying or doesn't know what's going on in his own office. Either scenario is unacceptable for someone in his position.
The National Organization for Women want him gone.
"The NFL has lost its way. It doesn’t have a Ray Rice problem; it has a violence against women problem," NOW said in a statement. "The only workable solution is for Roger Goodell to resign, and for his successor to appoint an independent investigator with full authority to gather factual data about domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking within the NFL community, and to recommend real and lasting reforms. The NFL sets the example for college, high school, middle school and even elementary school football programs. And the example it is setting right now is simply unacceptable.
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been hired to probe the league's investigation and how it gathered evidence in the case. What he finds out could go a long way in determining whether Goodell will still have a job in a month.
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