Dems press NFL for answers on Ray Rice video

A group of nearly a dozen House Democrats on Wednesday pressed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for more answers relating to the recently released video showing former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice punching his now-wife in an elevator in February. 

The lawmakers, in a letter to the commissioner, said they were not satisfied by the NFL’s explanation that it previously asked for the video but was denied. 

{mosads}”Given the important role the NFL and the other major professional sports leagues can play in shaping public perceptions concerning domestic violence, it would appear to be in the public interest to have the highest level of transparency associated with reviews of potential misconduct,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. 

They specifically asked “whether any employee, agents, or consultants of the league or any of its teams outside of your office had access to the video prior to September 8,” when it was first made public. 

The Ravens cut rice after the video was released — a reversal from a two-game suspension the team initially handed down. The NFL also suspended Rice indefinitely and announced stricter penalties for domestic violence offenders going forward. 

The lawmakers want to know whether the NFL requested the video from Rice’s attorney or the casino where the event took place. 

The NFL said it requested the video from law enforcement agencies including from the New Jersey State Police, the Atlantic City Police Department and the Atlantic County prosecutor. 

“To our knowledge, the public has not been informed as to specifically how and in what context the request was made, and specifically how relevant law enforcement responded,” they said.  

The letter was spearheaded by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and signed by Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Cedric Richmond (La.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Judy Chu (Calif.), Karen Bass (Calif.), and Suzan DelBene (Wash.). 

The letter went out to other major professional sports leagues as well.