By Kevin Clark
As the National Football League faced widening criticism Tuesday
over its handling of the Ray Rice domestic-violence episode, top
people inside the league appeared to be standing by its
commissioner.
At issue is whether the league had made sufficient effort to see
the video that emerged this week, said to show the running back
striking his now-wife, Janay, in an Atlantic City, N.J., casino
elevator. The league on Monday indefinitely suspended Mr. Rice soon
after his team, the Baltimore Ravens, released him.
An earlier video of the February casino incident, taken from
outside the elevator and said to show the fallout from the
altercation, had prompted the league to suspend Mr. Rice for two
games. Tuesday, the NFL rushed to strike down suggestions from
media website TMZ, which posted this week's video, that the league
could have asked to see the video before levying that lighter
punishment, which was roundly criticized at the time.
That criticism continued on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said of Commissioner Roger Goodell, "I think
he's a very weak leader, especially considering he makes $44
million a year." Domonique Foxworth, a former NFL cornerback who
was players union president until this year, said Mr. Goodell, who
has insisted on having final authority on player discipline,
shouldn't have so much power.
"We foresaw this in the union and we expected it to be an
issue," he said. "There's a reason a majority of Americans thought
that having judge, jury and executioner in one person is a bad
idea. It's proven to be flawed."
Answering a question about whether the Rice episode should cost
him his job, Mr. Goodell told CBS, "No, I'm used to the criticism;
I'm used to that. Every day I have to earn my stripes."
One NFL owner and another high-ranking team executive said Mr.
Goodell is unlikely to face heat from the league's owners, who are
the only group that can take action against the commissioner.
Owners say the bulk of Mr. Goodell's job is related to the growing
value of the league's 32 franchises and its television contract.
Mr. Goodell insisted on policing the sport himself simply because
he wanted to, they say.
In a CBS interview Tuesday, New England Patriots owner Robert
Kraft praised Mr. Goodell, pointing out that the commissioner
recently admitted that he got the Rice punishment wrong and set a
new policy for domestic violence, which calls for a six-game
suspension for a first offense and an indefinite ban for a repeat
offense.
"The way he's handled this situation himself, coming out with
the mea culpa in his statement...and setting a very clear policy
how we conduct ourselves in the NFL, I thought was excellent," Mr.
Kraft said. A spokesman for Mr. Kraft said the owner declined
further comment.
Mr. Goodell, 55 years old, is just the third NFL commissioner in
the past half-century, and he has overseen a sharp increase in
league revenue during his eight-year tenure. He also has taken
pride in his role as the league's disciplinarian. In other sports,
such as baseball, final authority in the appeals process in
disciplinary matters goes to an arbitrator.
This sweeping power from the league offices provided "so many
cases that led to suboptimal results," said Mr. Foxworth, the
former union president. "It's kind of sad because what's coming
now, it could have been avoided. I'm surprised that anyone thought
the way it was set up was a sustainable process."
During its investigation of the February incident, the NFL said
it spoke to members of state and local law enforcement. "That video
was not made available to us and no one in our office saw it until"
Monday, a league spokesman said.
In the CBS interview, Mr. Goodell said, "We had not seen any
videotape of what occurred in the elevator. We assumed that there
was a video, we asked for video, we asked for anything that was
pertinent, but we were never granted that opportunity."
A spokeswoman for Revel, the now-closed casino where the
incident took place, said the casino gave all tapes to the Atlantic
City police department, the Atlantic County prosecutor's office,
the Division of Gaming Enforcement and Mr. Rice's lawyer.
"As an investigator, I'd expect someone to reach out to the
hotel and obtain all information, including the video, ask for
witnesses, talk to the head of security," said Andrew O'Connell, a
former federal prosecutor and now president of investigations of
Guidepost Solutions, a security company that has worked with
athletes.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said the team halted its
fact-finding mission in March after it was unsuccessful in getting
the video. "That was a mistake on our part," he said.
As for Mr. Rice, Nike Inc. said it terminated its endorsement
contract with him, and videogame maker Electronic Arts Inc. said it
is removing him from its Madden NFL 15 game.
In an interview Tuesday with ESPN, Mr. Rice said, "I have to be
strong for my wife. She is so strong. We are in good spirits. We
have a lot of people praying for us and we'll continue to support
each other."
In an Instagram post under her name, Janay Rice defended her
husband and said "to make us relive a moment in our lives that we
regret everyday is a horrible thing."
Write to Kevin Clark at kevin.clark@wsj.com
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