A new report is calling into question NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s claim that no one in the NFL had seen the infamous Ray Rice video until it was published on Monday.
The Associated Press is reporting that a law enforcement source sent the security camera footage to an NFL executive months ago.
That law enforcement source also played a voicemail from an NFL office number for the Associated Press. In the voicemail, a female voice confirms receiving the video, expresses thanks for sending it, and says, “You’re right. It’s terrible.”
There is one discrepancy in the Associated Press report: Although the AP says the video was sent three months ago, the same report says the voicemail was dated April 9, which is five months ago.
The NFL has come in for harsh criticism over the last three days after TMZ published the video showing Rice brutally assaulting his wife in a casino elevator. Goodell has insisted that neither he nor anyone else in the league office saw the video.
The Associated Press is not publishing the name of either the law enforcement source or the NFL official who received the video from that source.
Shortly after the Associated Press report was published, the NFL released a statement saying the league will look into it.