It's amazing the difference just 24 hours can make. This time yesterday news outlets and NFL fans alike were debating whether or not commissioner Roger Goodell had finally taken the right action by suspending Ray Rice indefinitely from the NFL. Now everything has completely changed thanks to a report that has been released by AP alleging that the NFL did actually have a copy of the elevator surveillance tape that showed Rice knocking out Janay Palmer with one punch.
Goodell went to great lengths on Tuesday to reassure anyone listening that no one in the NFL had ever seen the footage before Monday morning — but there's a huge problem with this comment. There is reportedly a voice mail that is 13 minutes long coming from the offices of the NFL thanking law enforcement for getting them a copy of the video. The woman on this voice mail message refers to the actual content of the video as "terrible" which means that at least one person at the NFL's headquarters saw the damning footage back in April.
Sports insiders like former players and coaches are now making the news talk show rounds expressing disbelief at the notion that Goodell hasn't actually seen the footage. Many are also pointing out that this is a guy who takes the stance that not knowing about something is no excuse and so that same rule should apply to him in this case. At this point Goodell has said that he would "never" resign but fans seem to believe that there is no way that he will come out of this exploding scandal with his job still intact.
What are your thoughts on the way that the NFL has handled the Rice situation? Do you think that they have spent this week lying to cover up how badly they mishandled everything right from the start? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
