New video released appears to show Ray Rice hit then-fiancee
A public firestorm erupted when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell leveled a mere two-game suspension on Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice for a violent incident involving his then-fiancee, now wife Janay Palmer.
Video showing Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer out of an Atlantic City casino elevator contributed to the outcry over Goodell's decision. At the time, few knew what happened inside the elevator.
Eventually, Goodell admitted he "didn't get it right," and released a memo to all team owners outlining a likely minimum six-game suspension for future domestic violence incidents.
The controversy over the suspension may well be rekindled, however, if new video released by TMZ is authenticated.
The gossip website claims the video shows what happens before Rice drags Palmer out of the elevator.
Two people that appear to be Palmer and Rice can be seen arguing, and the woman approaches the man at one point. The man that appears to be Rice than punches the woman quickly in the face with his left hand, and she drops to the floor, violently hitting her head on a railing on the way down. The man does not appear to bend over to check on her until the elevator doors open, when he then bends over and begins dragging her away.
In a statement on Monday morning, several hours after the new video was released, the NFL commissioner's office said: "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."
CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora tweeted that while the Baltimore Ravens had not seen the video, Ray Rice had detailed what was shown in it previously, and he didn't "sugarcoat" its content.
Both Rice and Palmer were arrested in February for what the police would only call a domestic violence incident over what occurred in the elevator.
At the time, his lawyer said he hoped "the matter turns out to be little more than a misunderstanding."
The 27-year-old was accepted into a intervention program and upon completion charges are likely to be expunged. A month later, the couple were married.
"I made the biggest mistake of my life," Rice said in a news conference when the Ravens returned to camp in late July. "I want to own it."
Rice also said in a statement after he was suspended: "Janay and I have learned from this. We have become better as a couple and as parents. I am better because of everything we have experienced since that night. The counseling has helped tremendously."