Roger Goodell backed off investigation out of concern for Janay Rice, per report

An unnamed NFL team owner told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that commissioner Roger Goodell did not pursue the Ray Rice investigation as thoroughly as he could have over concern for Janay Rice and the public perception of how she was being treated.

Janay Rice, according to the report, told Goodell at Ray Rice’s June 16 discipline hearing that she had hit her then-fiancee and that she felt she was also partly to blame for the incident. Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome, team president Dick Cass, the league’s chief counsel Jeff Pash, and executive VP Adolpho Birch were also in the room for that hearing, according to a July 25 report from Peter King.

Goodell told the anonymous team owner cited in the report that he felt it would have been insensitive to question Janay Rice’s story and worried how that would be perceived. The commissioner also believed that Rice was knocked unconscious in the elevator because she fell during the fight, not because she had been punched by Rice.

The Thursday report from the Wall Street Journal jives with the details about the hearing and Goodell’s decision first recounted in King’s July 25 article.

From King’s description:

Rice’s wife, a source said, made a moving and apparently convincing case to Goodell during a June 16 hearing at Goodell’s office in Manhattan-attended by Rice, GM Ozzie Newsome, club president Dick Cass of Baltimore; and Goodell, Jeff Pash and Adolpho Birch of the league-that the incident in the hotel elevator was a one-time event, and nothing physical had happened in their relationship before or since. She urged Goodell, the source said, to not ruin Rice’s image and career with his sanctions.

The arrest report filed immediately after the incident by arresting officers describes the altercation in the elevator. The report says that Ray Rice struck Janay “with his hand, rendering her unconscious.”

Goodell and league spokespersons, as well as the Ravens, have said that they did not see video of the altercation inside the elevator until TMZ released it on Monday. Goodell said in an interview with CBS News Tuesday that Rice had been “ambiguous” in his description of the event. Ozzie Newsome said that Rice did not lie to the Ravens about the incident and what was revealed on the tape.