In an exclusive interview with CBS This Morning co-host Norah O’Donnell, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that the league did not see the surveillance video showing Ray Rice punching his soon-to-be wife Janay Palmer in the face, knocking her unconscious, until TMZ posted it Monday morning. In fact, Goodell said, he didn't learn about the video until Monday morning.
"I got into the office and our staff had come to me and said there's new evidence, there's video that you need to see. And I watched it then."
O'Donnell asked Goodell if he knew the tape showing Rice striking Palmer existed.
"Well, 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 but we were never granted that opportunity."
O'Donnell: "So did anyone in the NFL see this second videotape (showing Rice striking Palmer) before Monday?"
Goodell: "No."
O'Donnell: "No one in the NFL?"
Goodell: "No one in the NFL, to my knowledge. And I asked that same question and the answer to that is no."
Goodell and the league have been heavily criticized over this fact. How can a billion-dollar corporation, the most popular sport in the United States that has relationships with various law enforcement agencies and employs former law enforcement officials in various security capacities, not be able to obtain a copy of the video, yet TMZ managed to do it?
"I don't know how TMZ or any other website gets their information," Goodell said. "We are particularly reliant on law enforcement. That's the most reliable, that's the most credible and we don't seek to get that information from sources that are not credible."
One oft-heard criticism: Was the NFL incompetent or willfully ignorant when dealing with Rice's domestic violence case that everyone knew included surveillance video?
"Well, we certainly didn't know what was on the tape," Goodell said, "but we have been very open and honest. And I have also, from two weeks ago, when I acknowledged that we didn't get this right. That's my responsibility and I'm accountable for that."
Another criticism: Even absent the video showing Rice striking Palmer, why did Goodell only levy a two-game suspension after seeing the initial video, that showed Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer out of an Atlantic City hotel elevator?
"No, we certainly didn't (need to see the second video). And what I will tell you is that what we saw in the first video tape was troubling to us in and of itself," Goodell said. "But what we saw yesterday was extremely clear, is extremely graphic and it was sickening. And that's why we took the action we took."
In July, the NFL suspended Rice for two games, a decision that was widely panned. A month later, Goodell, in a letter to owners announcing a new domestic violence policy, admitted that he got Rice's punishment wrong. Less than two weeks after Goodell's admission, TMZ released the surveillance video that neither the league nor the Ravens said they had seen previously.
Monday afternoon, shortly after the Ravens released Rice, the league announced, "based on new video evidence that became available today (Goodell) has indefinitely suspended Ray Rice."
When O'Donnell asked if Rice will ever play in the NFL again, Goodell said, "I don't rule that out but he would have to make sure that we are fully confident he is addressing this issue. Clearly, he has paid a price for the actions that he has already taken."
Goodell's handling of the Rice situation has raised questions about whether his job is on the line. Not surprisingly, he has no plans to step down.
"I'm used to the criticism. I'm used to that. Every day I have to earn my stripes," the commissioner said.
Goodell's full interview with O'Donnell can been seen in its entirety Wednesday morning on CBS This Morning.
