National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell suggested he would consider reinstating former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice in an interview with CBS News.
CBS This Morning host Norah O'Donnell posted statements from her interview with Goodell Tuesday evening, including one remark by Goodell saying he felt Rice "has paid the price" for his apparent attack against then-fiancee Janay Palmer this past February:
"I don't rule that out....He has paid the price for the actions that he's already taken" @nflcommish on #RayRice return 2 #NFL @CBSNews— Norah O'Donnell 🇺🇸 (@Norah O'Donnell 🇺🇸) 1410302379.0
Rice was "suspended indefinitely" from the league and fired from the Ravens after TMZ posted security camera footage of him knocking Palmer out in a New Jersey casino hotel.
At the time, Rice was serving a two-game suspension. Prosecutors in New Jersey allowed Rice to enter a "pretrial intervention" program that, upon completion, would dismiss the third-degree aggravated assault charge he faced.
That website's executive producer, Harvey Levin, subsequently accused the league of knowing about the footage and "turning a blind eye" to it. TMZ said it was told by casino personnel that the league never asked to see the video or if it even existed.
But Goodell rejected the accusation in his interview with O'Donnell.
"We had not seen any video tape of what occurred in the elevator," he said. "We assumed that there was a video, we asked for the video, we asked for anything that was pertinent, but we were never granted that opportunity."
O'Donnell also posted a remark from the commissioner saying TMZ had gone to sources who were not "credible" to get its information:
"I don't know how TMZ...gets their information...We don't seek 2 get that...from sources that are not credible" @nflcommish @CBSEveningNews— Norah O'Donnell 🇺🇸 (@Norah O'Donnell 🇺🇸) 1410302269.0
The interview will be aired Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. An excerpt can be seen below.
