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NFL Commissioner: 'We Have Been Very Open And Honest'

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Ted S. Warren
/
AP
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The NFL commissioner says the league has been "very open and honest," in its handling of the Ray Rice controversy.

If you haven't been keeping up, Rice was suspended indefinitely from the NFL after a video showed him hitting his then-fiancee in an elevator. After watching only part of the video, which showed Rice dragging Janay Rice out of the elevator, the NFL had originally suspended Rice for two games.

TMZ later published a second video that showed Rice swinging at Janay.

In an interview with CBS, Roger Goodell said no one in the league had watched the video released by the gossip site on Monday. Goodell was asked if the NFL had dropped ball.

"Well, we certainly didn't know what was on the tape. But we have been very open and honest," he said. "And I have also — from two weeks ago when I acknowledged it, we didn't get this right. That's my responsibility. And I'm accountable for that."

Goodell added that he would not rule out the possibility of Rice playing once again in the NFL.

"He would have to make sure that we are fully confident that he is addressing this issue clearly, [that] he has paid the price for the actions that he's already taken," Goodell said.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
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