Law Enforcement Official Claims Ray Rice Video Was Sent to NFL Security Chief

Updates from Friday, Sept. 26

ESPN.com news services provided more on the allegation that the NFL received the Ray Rice elevator video tape:

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The NFL on Friday said it had no evidence the Ray Rice elevator tape was ever sent to its offices or received by them, or that a call was made by a woman, from league lines, confirming delivery of the tape.

A league official e-mailed reporters, including ESPN's Adam Schefter, in response to an Associated Press story Thursday night about a law enforcement official saying he mailed a tape of the Rice incident to Jeffrey Miller, the NFL's senior vice president of security.

"Our office has found absolutely no evidence to support the claim of the anonymous 'law enforcement source' that he sent a video to the NFL office or that he received a telephone call to his 'disposable cell phone' from an unidentified female using an NFL line," the league said.

 

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Original Text

The NFL keeps taking hits in regard to its handling of the Ray Rice case, as video of the former Raven assaulting his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, was reportedly sent to the league in April.

According to The Associated Press, a law enforcement official in Atlantic City, New Jersey, sent video from the elevator at the Revel Casino Hotel to the league's security chief, Jeffrey Miller:

The source told Rob Maaddi of the AP that he has no idea whether Miller watched the security footage, but at the very least, a copy was delivered to his office.

Miller released a statement, via Kevin Clark of The Wall Street Journal:

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Miller statement (2/2): "and I had not watched it until it was made public on September 8."

— Kevin Clark (@KevinClarkWSJ) September 26, 2014"

The AP reported a few weeks ago that an unnamed NFL official received the security tape. A member of law enforcement replayed a voice mail from an NFL phone number. A female voice in the recording said of the video, "You're right. It's terrible," (via ESPN.com).

Don Van Natta Jr. and Kevin Van Valkenburg of ESPN's Outside the Lines reported last week on what they felt to be "a pattern of misinformation and misdirection employed by the Ravens and the NFL since that February night."

The Baltimore Ravens have since refuted the OTL report.

As more news breaks about the whole situation, the harder it becomes for league officials, commissioner Roger Goodell included, to deny that they hadn't seen the video until TMZ Sports released it in early September.

Goodell told Norah O'Donnell of CBS This Morning on Sept. 10 that the NFL asked for a copy of the video from law enforcement but was unsuccessful in its attempt. The league hadn't seen the full footage until two days prior.

The newest AP report casts more doubt about whether Goodell and the league have been entirely forthcoming with the way in which they've dealt with Rice and the fallout stemming from his indefinite suspension.