ESPN report details what Baltimore Ravens knew in Ray Rice case
Commissioner Roger Goodell answered many questions during a news conference Friday on what he got wrong on the Ray Rice case, in which the since-released Baltimore Ravens running back was initially suspended just two games for a domestic violence incident in which he knocked out his wife.
And while Goodell's answers and his role in the matter are important, one other key entity hasn't answered too many questions about its role.
The Ravens.
The team's brass sat down with the Baltimore Sun to discuss the incident, in which Rice punched his then-fiancee in an elevator, and not much else has come from them (outside of coach John Harbaugh, who has his normal media availability). And the main takeaway from that interview was general manager Ozzie Newsome saying that Rice told the team the truth about what happened in the elevator.
Not much was made of that Newsome comment in most circles, but it opened up a new set of questions: If the team knew exactly what happened on that video, why didn't it take any action before releasing Rice on Sept. 8, the day TMZ released it? And Rice told the Ravens the truth, why did the team change course when the video was released?
That Newsome comment matters a little more after ESPN's "Outside the Lines" published a lengthy story that mostly focused on what the Ravens knew, said and did in the months after the incident, and how it pushed for Rice to get a more lenient NFL suspension and attempted to keep the full video from becoming public. The report says that at least two high-ranking employees – director of security Darren Sanders and team president Dick Cass – were told by an Atlantic City police officer and Rice's lawyer, respectively, a detailed account of the full video. The ESPN report says that on at least two occasions shortly after the incident coach John Harbaugh urged the team to cut Rice, but that was denied. And it says the Ravens fought for a lighter NFL suspension for Rice, even after knowing what was on the video. In fact, ESPN said that team Cass, after being told by Rice's defense lawyer Michael Diamondstein that the full video was "[expletive] horrible" after Diamondstein saw it, urged Rice's legal team to get him into a pretrial intervention program. One of the benefits of having his case settled by him going into the program was that the full video of Rice punching his then-fiancee wouldn't be made public.
The Ravens contended, in a statement to "Outside the Lines," that the team didn't know what happened in the elevator until it saw the full video, released by TMZ, and that it thought Rice hit Palmer with an open hand and she hit her head against the elevator rail or wall. The Ravens didn't ask Diamondstein for a copy of the video and neither did the NFL, the story said.
One of the reasons the Ravens didn't cut Rice as Harbaugh wanted was that owner Steve Bisciotti, Cass and Newsome were against it, the report said. ESPN detailed how Bisciotti liked Rice, particularly for all the community work he did. Included in that community work was Rice dressing up as Santa Claus for an event hosted by the House of Ruth, a Baltimore shelter for victims of domestic violence. Harbaugh publicly supported Rice on many occasions this offseason.
According to four of ESPN's sources, Ravens executives including Bisciotti, Cass and Newsome urged Goodell to give Rice no more than a two-game suspension, which was what happened. Nearly 30 letters of support were presented by Rice's lawyer to prosecutors, trying to get Rice a deal to be able to enter into the pretrial intervention program, including one from three top-ranking Ravens officials, in which "Cass, Newsome and Harbaugh extolled Rice's contributions to the community, charities and his team." Newsome and Cass accompanied Rice to his hearing with Goodell, and several former executives and lawyers who have represented players and coaches in hearings with the league told ESPN it is very unusual for a team president and GM to accompany a player. A league source told ESPN that's not too uncommon. Cass and Newsome spoke on Rice's behalf in that hearing, ESPN said.
The team went from that level of support to cutting Rice hours after the video was released. That was the same video that at least two high-ranking Ravens employees had been given a detailed account of, as ESPN claimed. ESPN printed two back-to-back text messages allegedly sent from Bisciotti to Rice shortly after the team cut Rice.
"Hey Ray, just want to let you know, we loved you as a player, it was great having you here. Hopefully all these things are going to die down. I wish the best for you and Janay."
"When you're done with football, I'd like you to know you have a job waiting for you with the Ravens helping young guys getting acclimated to the league."
ESPN confirmed through other sources that the phone number reportedly on the texts was a cell phone regularly used by Bisciotti.
The entire "Outside the Lines" story outlines the step-by-step process, and it makes one thing clear: While most of the focus has been on Goodell and what he knew, maybe more questions need to be asked of the Ravens as well.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
