The league has addressed the question of whether it saw the video from the Kareem Hunt incident before Friday. And the league claims that it did not see the video.
“Neither the NFL nor the Chiefs viewed the video before it became public today,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told PFT via email.
A source with knowledge of the situation contends that the league made multiple attempts to obtain the video. The source contends that the hotel at which the incident occurred explained to the NFL that it would give the video only to law enforcement. The source also contends that the Cleveland Police Department did not provide any video to the league.
The league had continued its investigation regarding the situation. The alleged victims, however, did not respond to multiple messages, per the source.
It’s unclear whether Hunt’s lawyer had a copy of the video, if Hunt even hired a lawyer. The Ray Rice case featured an argument that the league should have told Rice in plain, clear terms that he won’t be permitted to play until he instructs his lawyer to produce the video. If Hunt had a lawyer, and if the lawyer has the video, the league could have tried to get it from Hunt directly.