Roger Goodell Will Reportedly Testify at Ray Rice's Hearing

Updates from Thursday, Oct. 23

Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reports that Goodell won't be the only executive testifying at Rice's hearing:

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Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and team president Dick Cass have been informed in a ruling by a third-party arbitrator that they must testify at the appeal hearing for Ray Rice, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

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Original Text

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell may be forced to reveal everything he knows regarding the Ray Rice scandal, as well as when he knew it.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that a judge ruled Goodell will have to testify at Rice's hearing regarding his suspension from the league:

ESPN's Ed Werder called the development a "potential game-changer":

Many fans and sportswriters have been upset with Goodell and the league's lack of transparency in terms of their actions addressing Rice's suspension and the handling of his case.

Goodell held a press conference on Sept. 19. In it, he spoke about the NFL making mistakes in regard to Rice and that the league would take steps to improve internally, per Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times and Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com:

Andrew Brandt of ESPN discussed what will be the biggest difference between former FBI director Robert Mueller's investigation into the league's handling of the Rice affair and the judicial process in the wake of Goodell's testimony:

Back in September, the Baltimore Ravens cut Rice in light of TMZ revealing security footage of Rice striking his then-fiancee in a casino elevator. The league also suspended him indefinitely.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wonders if the league and its commissioner could've saved themselves a lot of headaches if they'd never indefinitely suspended Rice. NFL teams would've then meted out their own pseudo-punishment:

The NFL players union issued an appeal shortly thereafter, which is scheduled for Nov. 5 and 6, per NFL.com.