NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Faces New Pressure to Resign

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — What did the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell know about player Ray Rice’s assault of his then-fiancée in a hotel elevator in Atlantic City and when?

Some critics — including retired NFL players, women’s rights groups and TV hosts — are now calling for Goodell’s dismissal.

Former FBI director Robert S. Mueller has been tasked with getting to the bottom of the matter, assigned by the league to conduct an independent investigation into the NFL’s pursuit and handling of evidence following the February fight between Rice and his now-wife, Janay.

Within days of the incident, surveillance video from outside the elevator emerged, showing Palmer unconscious. The NFL’s efforts to acquire additional surveillance video from inside the elevator, showing the actual attack, remain unclear.

Rice, 27, was initially suspended for two games. But after the second video was released by TMZ.com on Monday, showing Rice punching his now-wife, the Baltimore Ravens terminated Rice’s contract. The NFL followed up with suspending him indefinitely.

Both the team and league have said they asked for the video, but police and prosecutors did not turn it over because it was part of a grand jury hearing.

But two sources briefed on the incident and behind-the-scenes discussions regarding the tape told ABC News that the Ravens knew that the tape existed and knew what was on the tape almost immediately after the incident.

ABC News reported Wednesday that the Baltimore Ravens knew shortly after Rice knocked out his wife that a surveillance video of the assault existed and that Rice’s lawyer had a copy of the video, but never asked to see it, sources said.

The claim by Goodell that the league was unaware of the brutality of Rice’s assault on his then-fiancee has also come under a cloud because a police report at the time stated clearly that Rice committed assault “by striking her with his hand, rendering her unconscious,” sources told ABC News.

Rice and Palmer were fighting before they entered the elevator at Revel Casino Hotel on Feb. 15.

Rice spat in his then-fiancée’s face twice — outside the elevator and then inside, a former staffer at the now-closed facility told ESPN’s Outside the Lines.

Palmer retaliated.

Rice punched her.

Her head hit a banister and she fell, unconscious, her body slumped in the elevator doorway. As Rice dragged her body out of the elevator, bystanders and security responded, according to the video.

“Get him away from her! Get him away from her!” a first responder was told by another security officer over a radio, a former security staffer told Outside the Lines.

Rice tried to get Palmer to stand.

“The first thing he said is, ‘She’s intoxicated. She drank too much. I’m just trying to get her to the room,” the Revel staffer told Outside the Lines.

According to Outside the Lines, Rice made a phone call as his fiancée remained groggy, saying, “I’m getting arrested tonight.” It is unclear from where Rice made the phone call.

Rice was charged with aggravated assault. But since he had a clean record and faced a third-degree charge, he was allowed to enter a pre-trial intervention program.

Rice and Palmer married in March.

Goodell met with the couple in mid-June before deciding on the initial two-game suspension for Rice.

“The league is an entity that depends on integrity and in the confidence of the public and we cannot tolerate conduct that endangers others or reflects negatively on our game,” Goodell said in a statement at the time. “This is particularly true with respect to domestic violence and other forms of violence against women.”

Goodell defended the NFL’s ruling a week later at the Pro Football Hall of Fame festivities, calling the suspension “consistent” with other punishments issued by the league.

The firestorm lingered. On Aug. 28, Goodell changed course, outlining a six-game ban for league personnel who violate the league’s policy on domestic violence.

“I didn’t get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will,” Goodell wrote in a memo to NFL owners.

Less than two weeks later, the second video surfaced showing the attack from inside the elevator — a knockout punch, Palmer’s head hitting a banister, her body limp. The criticism re-ignited, with more force and fury and questions about how much the NFL knew and when.

Now, former players are calling on the NFL to act.

“If Roger Goodell won’t resign put him on leave of absence pending outside investigation. NFL fans, players and sponsors deserve that,” London Fletcher wrote.

Longtime Eagles running back Brian Westbrook was also critical. “Being a leader is not a part time job,” he wrote on Twitter. “If Goodell holds the players to a high standard, he should be held to that same high standard!”

National Organization of Women President Terry O’Neill is among Goodell’s most vocal critics. “The NFL sets the example for college, high school, middle school and even elementary school football programs. And the example it is setting right now is simply unacceptable,” she wrote in a statement.

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann also called for Goodell’s dismissal during Wednesday’s episode of Olbermann, comparing the NFL’s efforts to acquire information in previous investigations into the Patriots “Spygate” scandal in 2007 and a Saints bounty system, when evidence was gathered from non-law enforcement sources.

“Your guys seized video in one case and interpreted vague sideline video the way you wanted to in the other,” Olbermann said, addressing Goodell. “But the images of Ray Rice brutally knocking out his wife, symbolically knocking out every woman football fan in this country, symbolically knocking out every woman in this country, either you’re still waiting for the nice policeman on the corner to walk you home and give you that tape, or your office has reportedly had it all this time and they didn’t tell you about it, or you are lying about it.”

Now it’s up to Mueller to make sense of it all. Mueller’s investigation will be overseen by NFL owners John Mara of the New York Giants and Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers — and the final report will be made public, the league announced.

Mueller, 70, served as director of the FBI from 2001 until 2013, and is currently a partner in the law firm of WilmerHale. He is based in Washington, D.C.

But with Mueller’s appointment, a new question has emerged — can the investigation be truly independent? Mueller’s firm has helped negotiate the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package with DirecTV. The firm has also represented Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, and several league executives previously worked at WilmerHale.

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