While the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell have come under intense criticism since Monday morning when the latest Ray Rice tape was released -- with people asking if the league had seen the tape, and if not, why not? -- Patriots owner Bob Kraft stuck up for the league and for Goodell on Tuesday, saying his recent decision-making has been "excellent."
"The way he has handled this situation himself, coming out with the mea culpa in his statement a couple weeks ago, or 10 days ago, and setting a very clear policy of how we conduct ourselves in the NFL, I thought was excellent," Kraft said on CBS This Morning. "Anyone who is second guessing that doesn't know him."
Well, plenty of people have been second-guessing the league since TMZ released the video of Rice knocking out Janay Rice in an Atlantic City hotel elevator. On Tuesday, TMZ reported that the league never tried to obtain a copy of the elevator surveillance video from the hotel, even though Rice's lawyer apparently had a copy.
The NFL reiterated in a statement Tuesday that "Security for Atlantic City casinos is handled by the New Jersey State Police. Any videos related to an ongoing criminal investigation are held in the custody of the state police. As we said yesterday: 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."
Responded Kraft: "OK, I don't want to get in the role of law enforcement or things I don't understand. It's just -- the good news is, people did the right thing. When you see that visually, it's just such a turnoff, and I hope a great lesson to people everywhere that this isn't going to be tolerated."
As for Rice's future in the league -- he's been indefinitely suspended by the NFL, so it's not like he's a free agent who could play right away if another team signed him -- Kraft wasn't optimistic.
"Well, I don’t think he will play another NFL game," Kraft said. "I would be shocked if some team would pick him up."
Could the Patriots be one of those teams?
Said Kraft: "No."
