Investigation Finds No Evidence NFL Saw Second Ray Rice Video

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The National Football League has released its long-awaited independent report on the league's handling of the Ray Rice case. The former Baltimore Ravens star running back was captured on a video punching and knocking unconscious his then fiancee. The incident consumed the NFL this season and prompted calls for league commissioner Roger Goodell to step down.

NPR's Tom Goldman joins us now to talk about what's in the report, and, Tom, there were two big questions in the investigation conducted by former FBI director Robert Mueller. First, what the NFL knew about the shocking video of Rice punching the woman who's now his wife, and second, how thoroughly did the league investigate the incident? What did the report find?

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: In regard to the first question, Robert, the headline is no evidence either Roger Goodell or anyone at the league saw the video before it was publicly released on September 8 by TMZ. Now, of course, the release prompted the Ravens to cut Rice and the league to increase an initial two-game suspension into an indefinite ban. Goodell and the NFL maintain publicly all along they never saw it before September 8, and Mueller confirms that. The investigation also said there was no evidence an Associated Press report was accurate.

Now, that's a report that said a copy of the video was sent to the league headquarters five months before its public release. And then an unnamed woman at the NFL acknowledged on a voicemail receiving the video. Mueller said he couldn't find evidence that happened either. So this is good news for Roger Goodell and the league. Now, the answer to the second question, how thorough was the league's investigation? Not such good news - Mueller says the NFL's investigation, essentially, was too passive. It deferred too much to law enforcement and, as a result, missed unearthing a lot of evidence, including the controversial video. Mueller also said the Ravens knew about what was on the video as early as February - that's the month Rice assaulted his then fiance, but the team didn't tell the league because the league didn't ask.

SIEGEL: Now, those were the concerns about the league's investigation. There was also concern about whether Mueller's investigation would really be independent. He works for a firm that's had dealings with the National Football League in the past. How thorough is this report?

GOLDMAN: Well, I'll tell you what the report says. It says Roger Goodell and more than 50 NFL employees were interviewed about whether the league got video before September. One-hundred-eighty-eight female employees were interviewed and each one denied making the call confirming the video was received. Millions of documents, emails and texts were analyzed. A digital forensic company searched computers and mobile phones, and there was an anonymous tip line created, and no calls came into that.

SIEGEL: What does the report recommend for the league?

GOLDMAN: Mueller recommends the NFL should discipline players based on the specific nature of the players conduct and not based on what's happening in the player's criminal case. Now, the league has begun to address that in its revised personal conduct policy, which was announced last month. Other recommendations include establishing a specialized investigative team for domestic violence and sexual assault cases, taking steps to assure information sharing between clubs and the league happens at a better rate, and transcribing proceedings when a player and interested parties appear at a disciplinary hearing.

Now, this was key to the Rice case. Goodell met with Rice June 16. Rice always insisted in that meeting he described everything that happened in the elevator. Goodell said it was unclear what happened, and that's why he handed down Rice's initial and widely criticized two-game possession. Had there been a transcript, it would have told the world exactly what happened in that meeting.

SIEGEL: OK, thank you, Tom.

GOLDMAN: You're welcome.

SIEGEL: That's NPR's sports correspondent Tom Goldman talking about today's release of a report on the National Football League by former FBI director Robert Mueller. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.