Ravens' Bisciotti Defends Goodell, Says He Couldn't Have Seen Ray Rice Video
BALTIMORE (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti reiterated Thursday night he was unable to get his hands on the damning Ray Rice elevator attack video despite several attempts, and said he does not believe NFL Chairman Roger Goodell could possibly have seen the video months ago.
Speaking to CBS Sports NFL Pregame Show host James Brown, Bisciotti said he knew there was a second graphic video showing Rice punching his now wife, Janay Rice, in an elevator in the now-shuttered Revel Casino in Atlantic City. But all of the team's attempts to get the video were vain.
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"Of course when we knew we knew that there was other video, and our security did the steps that they normally would. They called the casino, and they would not release it," Bisciotti said. "They called the Jets and Giants and said, 'Do you have any influence?' And they said, 'No, we cannot release it.'"
Bisciotti told Brown that prosecutors said it would have been illegal to keep Rice off the team until the second tape was obtained and viewed.
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Meanwhile, The Associated Press reported earlier this week that a law enforcement official said he had sent the second Rice video to an NFL executive back in April. Goodell told CBS News' Norah O'Donnell earlier this week that the NFL was never given the video despite requests for it.
"We had not seen any videotape of what occurred in the elevator," Goodell said. "We assumed that there was a video. We asked for video. We asked for anything that was pertinent. But we were never granted that opportunity."
Subsequently, NFL officials, asked about the AP report that a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number on April 9 confirmed that the video had arrived, repeated their assertion that no league official had seen the video before Monday.
The league later announced an independent investigation into the matter, led by former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III.
Bisciotti said he does not believe Goodell could have seen the video previously and claimed otherwise.
"I believe Roger when he says he never saw it. If the allegations are true that it got to the League office, then somebody was negligent in not getting it to Roger," Bisciotti said. "I've known Roger for 14 years. He's dedicated his life to the NFL, and as a man, I can't believe he saw that video and gave a two-game suspension."
Bisciotti also questioned the veracity of the allegations that the NFL received the video in April, noting that they came from an anonymous source and suggesting that they could have been an effort to deflect blame from police in their handling of the matter.
"Why would I take an anonymous person's word over a man I've known for 14 years?" Bisciotti said.
Bisciotti also said he hopes the Rice scandal will at least have some kind of positive outcome.
"If this is a seminal moment for domestic violence and the way we handle it as a society, then that's not a burden for us to be the poster boy. It's not," Bisciotti said. "Now, I'm embarrassed about it. But five years from now, if things have changed significantly for the better, I'll be proud of it."
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