The shocking new video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée in the face inside an Atlantic City casino elevator was news to the NFL.
The league announced Monday in a statement that it didn’t see the disturbing video while making the decision to suspend Rice for two games during the offseason.
“We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator,” the statement read, according to TMZ. “That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell faced plenty of backlash after handing Rice the two-game ban for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. Goodell defended the decision by pointing out that Rice was a first-time offender with a clean record.
Goodell changed his tune, though, as the NFL recently announced stricter penalties for domestic violence. First-time offenders now will face a six-game suspension, but that announcement obviously came after Rice was suspended for just two games.
Photo by Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
