New Allegations in Ray Rice Investigation Reported by 'Outside the Lines'

Updates from Monday, Sept. 22

The Baltimore Ravens have responded in detail to the allegations brought against them by an Outside the Lines segment in a release on the team's website.

Owner Steve Bisciotti addressed the organization's handling of the situation:

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As I stated in our letter to you on September 9, we did not do all we should have done, and no amount of explanation can remedy that.  But there has been no misdirection or misinformation by the Ravens.  We have stated what we knew and what we thought throughout – from the original report of the incident, to the release of the first videotape, to the release of the second videotape, which revealed a much harsher reality. As we said in our response to ESPN’s questions on Friday, it was our understanding based on Ray's account that in the course of a physical altercation between the two of them he slapped Janay with an open hand, and that she hit her head against the elevator rail or wall as she fell to the ground.

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Darren Sanders, the Ravens director of security, also replied to the report in the release:

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I did not receive an account of what happened in the elevator 'within hours' of the incident.  Within a couple of days, I asked the casino and the Atlantic City Police Department for a copy of any videotape of the incident.  They said they could not release a copy of the videotape to me.  Some days later—I believe it was on February 25—I spoke to an Atlantic City police official again, asking again whether I could get a copy of the tape or, if not, whether I could come to his New Jersey office and view it. He said I could not, but he did offer to view the tape and describe what he saw.  (As I understand it, he was describing a raw video, not the 'cleaned up,' 'smoothed . . . out' version that appeared on TMZ.)  He said that Ray and Janay both appeared to be intoxicated, and that they were involved in a heated argument that began outside the elevator and continued inside.  As he described it, Janay appeared to initiate the altercation, but they both spit at and struck each other, resulting in Janay falling and hitting her head against the wall railing. The officer could not tell from the video whether Ray slapped or punched her, but Ray told me very clearly that he did not punch her.  It was not clear from the officer’s account whether it was being intoxicated, being hit, or hitting her head against the railing that caused Janay’s apparent unconsciousness.

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General manager Ozzie Newsome and John Harbaugh commented on the team's discussions about potentially cutting Rice:

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John Harbaugh (Ravens coach):  'I did not recommend cutting Ray Rice from the team after seeing the first videotape.  I was very disturbed by that tape, and I told people that the facts should determine the consequences. When I saw the second videotape, I immediately felt that we needed to release Ray.'   

Ozzie Newsome:  'Neither John nor anyone else ever recommended cutting Ray Rice before we saw the second videotape on September 8.'

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Bisciotti later held a press conference where he answered questions about the report (via Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun Clifton Brown of CSN Mid-Atlantic and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun):

The Ravens owner was also asked about his franchise's investigation and desire to see the videotape of the incident (via Albert Breer of NFL.com, Zrebiec and Will Brinson of CBSSports.com):

As for discipline for Rice, the owner discussed the exempt list and the original suspension for the running back (via Jason LaCanfora of CBS Sports and Eye on Football):

Pro Football Talk passed along a comment from Bisciotti on his own future as the owner of the Ravens:

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com also passed along a comment from the owner on the job security of those within the organization involved with the handling of Rice:

Bisciotti also commented on how he views Rice in the wake of all that has happened (via Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com):

Updates from Sunday, Sept. 21

After the Ravens defeated the Browns 23-21 on Sunday, John Harbaugh commented on how his team handled the Ray Rice investigation via Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun:  

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"This is a football day, Jeff. This is definitely a football day. I’ll address that question tomorrow. I can tell you this — Kevin [Byrne, senior vice president of community and public relations] told me not to answer any questions, but I can tell you this. We work together in our organization. I’m going to go ahead and answer this question, OK? Every single football decision we make, we work together. Just like every football decision, you get together, you hash it out. Ozzie [Newsome, general manager] uses the term scrimmaging. You scrimmage it out. Everybody’s got their opinions. It’s not black and white. It’s never nuanced on anything. That decision was exactly like all the other ones. And we walked out of that room, we were united, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder, and that’s how I felt about the decision. I thought it was the right decision. And the way we handled it, all the way through, I felt like was the right way to handle it all the way through. I felt like we did the right thing, and I stand behind it. That’s all I’m going to say about it."

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Original Text 

The NFL and Baltimore Ravens might both be jumping from the frying pan into the fire regarding the fallout surrounding the ongoing Ray Rice affair.

Don Van Natta Jr. and Kevin Van Valkenburg of ESPN's Outside the Lines published a report on Friday that calls into further doubt both the league's and the Ravens' handling of the immediate aftermath following Rice hitting his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City casino:

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"Outside the Lines" interviewed more than 20 sources over the past 11 days -- team officials, current and former league officials, NFL Players Association representatives and associates, advisers and friends of Rice -- and found a pattern of misinformation and misdirection employed by the Ravens and the NFL since that February night.

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Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun provides the Ravens' response to the report:

Van Natta and Van Valkenburg wrote that higher-ups in the Ravens organization, including team owner Steve Bisciotti, team president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome, attempted to help Rice get clemency from prosecutors in Atlantic County, New Jersey, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and those within the Ravens organization.

Two members of the Ravens who pushed back against management were head coach John Harbaugh and George Kokinis, the team's director of player personnel. Four sources told Van Natta and Van Valkenburg that Harbaugh wanted the team to release Rice in February, when video surfaced of Rice dragging an unconscious Janay Palmer out of Revel Hotel Casino elevator.

The team denied the report, saying, "John Harbaugh did not want to release Ray Rice until he saw the second video on September 8 for the first time. The video changed everything for all of us."

Rather than reportedly agreeing with Harbaugh, Bisciotti, Cass and Newsome lobbied Goodell to hand Rice a two-game suspension, which he initially did.

After TMZ released graphic video from inside the elevator, everything changed. Baltimore terminated Rice's contract, and the NFL suspended him indefinitely. The players' union has since appealed that suspension.

The Ravens reportedly had access to that video around April, when Rice's lawyer, Michael J. Diamondstein, subpoenaed Revel to obtain the tape as evidence for Rice's case. Diamondstein was blunt about the explicit nature of the tape, per Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio:

Neither Cass nor the NFL specifically asked for a copy of the tape, according to Van Natta's and Van Valkenburg's sources:

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Instead, Cass strategized on the best next move for Rice in court, agreeing with Diamondstein that the video would almost certainly become public if the Rice case went to trial. Cass agreed with Diamondstein that getting Rice accepted into New Jersey's pretrial intervention program, which is for first-time offenders charged with nonviolent crimes, would be the best outcome for Rice and the Ravens. It not only would keep Rice out of jail but also would fortify the team's argument to Goodell that Rice should be given a suspension of fewer games because he had entered a diversionary program.

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It appears the Ravens knew the contents of the tape. The team's director of security, Darren Sanders, reportedly spoke with an Atlantic City police officer over the phone hours after Rice struck Palmer. The officer then revealed to Sanders exactly what was on the tape.

Rice was reportedly upfront about what happened when speaking to friends:

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The day after the incident in Atlantic City, Rice met Kyle Jakobe, his personal trainer and one of his closest friends, at Jakobe's gym, Sweat Performance, in Timonium, Maryland. In Jakobe's office, Rice wept as he described what happened between him and his future wife. "I'm holding him, he's crying, he's devastated," Jakobe said. According to Jakobe, Rice didn't sugarcoat what happened. The running back told his friend much of what we now know: Rice struck Janay in the face with his left fist and sent her careening into the elevator wall, where she struck her head and was knocked out instantly. "He motioned it to me," Jakobe said, making a closed fist and bringing it across his body. "He was like 'Hey, this is what happened.'"

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In an interview with The Baltimore Sun, Newsome confirmed that Rice's account of the incident that he gave to team officials matched the video.

"You know. Ray had given a story to John and I," he said. "And what we saw on the video was what Ray said. Ray didn’t lie to me. He didn’t lie to me."

The OTL report states that Newsome is the only member of the Ravens organization with whom Rice still has any faith.

"Ozzie Newsome is the only one, Rice believes, willing to tell the truth," Van Natta and Van Valkenburg wrote.

Minutes after the Ravens released a letter stating they had not seen the video, Rice reportedly received two text messages from Bisciotti:

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Hey Ray, just want to let you know, we loved you as a player, it was great having you here. Hopefully all these things are going to die down. I wish the best for you and Janay.

When you're done with football, I'd like you to know you have a job waiting for you with the Ravens helping young guys getting acclimated to the league.

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Rice took exception to the offer:

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A few days later, after thinking about it more, Rice told friends he believed Bisciotti was suggesting that, as long as he kept quiet and stuck to the story that he had misled team officials and Goodell about what had happened in the elevator, the Ravens would take care of him down the road. He felt incredibly insulted.

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When looking at the NFL perspective, Van Natta and Van Valkenburg contend that Rice was honest with Goodell in describing what happened in the elevator. A little over a week ago, Goodell told CBS This Morning's Norah O'Donnell that Rice and his representatives were "ambiguous about what actually happened."

The NFL has launched an investigation into the situation. Former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III will lead the investigation, while NFL owners Art Rooney II and John Mara will oversee it. The National Organization for Women weren't excited with the development, per CNN's Rachel Nichols:

The OTL report also calls into doubt the veracity of the investigation, calling Mara and Rooney "close confidants" of Goodell.

Van Natta and Van Valkenburg also pointed out a possible conflict of interest for Mueller:

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The investigation will be led by two Goodell allies -- Steelers owner Rooney and Giants owner Mara. Mueller is a partner in the law firm WilmerHale, where Cass was a partner and worked for 31 years before joining the Ravens in 2004. Recently, the law firm also helped the NFL negotiate a multibillion-dollar contract extension with DirecTV.

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The NFL refrained from commenting in the OTL report.