With the NFL’s independent investigation into the Ray Rice situation not as independent as it could be or should be and with the coming Ray Rice appeal of his indefinite suspension subject to whatever procedural and evidentiary limitations the NFL may choose to apply, there’s another entity that can look into the case.
The NFL Players Association has plenty of reasons to want to know what went so wrong in this case, especially since the same mechanism that bungled the Rice situation could result in other botched investigations. The NFLPA has done it before, including most recently in connection with the MRSA and Josh Freeman situations in Tampa.
The NFLPA should do the same thing regarding the Rice fiasco. And don’t be surprised if the NFLPA does just that.
Making an investigation even more important is the increasingly clear battle lines that the NFL is drawing on the question of whether Rice told the truth to the Ravens and the league. On Sunday, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports said that Rice lied to the team and lied to the league regarding what happened in the elevator, claiming that he struck Janay Palmer Rice with an open hand, and that she then hit her head and went unconscious.
As the league, which began the week tiptoeing around the question by using words like ambiguous and inconsistent, characterizes the circumstances to Glazer as outright lying, the stakes will be higher than ever when Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome repeats under oath what he already has said on the record: Rice didn’t lie.
It’s clear that someone is lying. And it’s clear that the NFLPA needs to join the hunt for the truth, in order to ensure that the truth doesn’t accidentally slid into the same crevice where the league’s version of the Rice video reportedly resides.