WATCH ABOVE: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell opens up to CBS and claims the NFL never saw the video before it went public on Monday.
TORONTO – In his first interview since the shocking video surfaced of Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiancee (and now wife), National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Rice playing again in the NFL.
In an interview with CBS News, Goodell specified that Rice “would have to make sure that we are fully confident that he is addressing this issue clearly, that he has paid a price for the action that he has already taken,” in order to return to the NFL.
He also said that Rice and his wife Janay will get the “resources” needed to “help them work through” their issues.
VIDEO GALLERY:
“I think the focus is he’s got a lot of work to do, the family has a lot of work to do,” Goodell said.
The former Baltimore Ravens running back was released and suspended indefinitely by the league Monday, just hours after a graphic video of the February incident was released by TMZ. In the video, Rice and his now-wife can be seen arguing before he delivers a punch that knocks her unconscious.
On Tuesday, Janay Rice released an emotional statement via Instagram defending her husband and decrying the media attention surrounding the incident. The issue of domestic violence led to many to take to social media to share their stories using #WhyIstayed and #WhyILeft.
Goodell and the NFL had faced intense criticism for initially handing Rice a two-game suspension after a first video was released showing Rice dragging her body from an elevator.
The NFL had released a statement saying that league officials had not seen the video released by TMZ, and that it was not made available to them.
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Goodell again defended the league saying the NFL did not see the video of the vicious knockout punch before it was released to the public.
“We had not seen any videotape of what occurred in the elevator,” he said. “We assumed that there was a video, we asked for the video, we asked for anything that was pertinent, but we were never granted that opportunity.”
Goodell added that he believed because of the ongoing investigation around Rice, officials were not willing to provide access to the video.
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“I think they were doing what they do. We are cooperative, we are supportive, we will ask for any pertinent information that we can have access to. But we can’t force them to provide any information,” he said.
Rice was charged with aggravated assault, but in May, he was admitted into a pre-trial intervention program that allowed him to avoid jail time and could lead to the charge being removed from his record.
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