AP
Even as much of the current anger about the handling of the Ray Rice situation centers on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the reality is that it all started when a man punched a woman in the face.
And new details reported today by ESPN’s Outside the Lines reveal a situation even uglier than the silent video heard round the world.
Three current or former security staffers of the now-bankrupt casino in Atlantic City described a grisly scene, with Rice spitting on his then-fiancee Janay Palmer twice.
One staffer who was at the scene said Rice’s first reaction when the elevator doors opened was to tell employees she was drunk.
“The first thing he [Rice] said is, ‘She’s intoxicated. She drank too much. I’m just trying to get her to the room,'” one said. “When she regained consciousness she said, ‘How could you do this to me? I’m the mother of your kid,'”
While she was coming to, Rice reportedly called someone on his cell phone and said “I’m getting arrested tonight.”
The report states that security footage was given to Atlantic City police within an hour of the incident. All of the staffers interviewed say they were not contacted by anyone from the NFL or the Ravens.
Much in the same way we didn’t need to see the video to know something bad happened, the latest details don’t change the basic facts in the case.
But they do go to reinforce the fact that Goodell should not be the only one under fire right now.