Forced to testify in Ray Rice’s appeal of an indefinite suspension from the NFL, Roger Goodell sat in front of U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones for two hours to give his account of what happened behind the scenes in the lead up to Rice’s suspension.
According to the Associated Press, some of the focus was on what Rice told Goodell prior to the release of the now infamous casino elevator video that showed the running back hitting his then fiancee Janay Palmer.
Not only is Rice appealing to have his suspension overturned, he has filed a separate wrongful termination lawsuit against the Ravens, which will be heard at some point in the future. It remains to be seen whether Goodell will be forced to testify in that case.
For his part, Rice spent 10 hours in the hearing on Wednesday and is slated to testify himself on Thursday. League security chief Jeffery Miller and Ravens President Dick Cass are also expected to testify during the two-day hearing. You might remember Miller as the individual that sources told the Associated Press was the intended recipient of a copy of the casino video in question.
That report from the AP set in motion other information, including a damning investigative piece from ESPN, that indicated both the NFL and the Ravens engaged in a cover up prior to Rice being suspended indefinitely.
In terms of this specific case, Rice will likely win. Under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, a player can only be suspended one time for a violation of the personal conduct policy. The NFL originally suspended Rice for two games before deciding to ban him indefinitely after the aforementioned video was made public by TMZ.
The NFL’s stance is that it Rice wasn’t fully forthcoming in his meeting with Goodell, and that it only found out about the extent of the situation following the release of the video.
Even if Rice is reinstated, it’s hard to imagine that he would catch on with another team this season. His presence and the media that it would likely bring simply isn’t attractive to teams at this later point in the year.
Photo: USA Today