Will Ray Rice ever play in the NFL again?

NFL assumed additional Ray Rice video existed

Since the horrible tape surfaced Monday of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice beating his then-fiancee, there's been a torrent of criticism that the National Football League had been insensitive to the whole issue of domestic violence.

Rice was fired by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely, but not permanently, by the league.

But questions have been building about how much the league knew and when officials knew it.

Late Tuesday, Commissioner Roger Goodell gave his first interview and Norah O'Donnell of "CBS This Morning" got it.

O'Donnell: When did you first learn about this second tape?

Goodell: Yesterday morning. I got into the office and our staff had come in and said, "There's new evidence, there's a video that you need to see." And we watched it then.

O'Donnell: Did you know that a second tape existed?

Goodell: Well, we had not seen any videotape of what occurred in the elevator. We assumed that there was a video. We asked for video. But we were never granted that opportunity.

O'Donnell: So did anyone in the NFL see this second videotape before Monday?

Goodell: No.

O'Donnell: No one in the NFL?

Goodell: No one in the NFL to my knowledge, and I asked that same question. The answer to that is "no."

O'Donnell: How is it that the NFL didn't get their hands on the second tape but a website called TMZ could?

Goodell: Well, I don't know how TMZ or any other website gets their information. We are particularly reliant on law enforcement. That's the most reliable. It's the most credible. And We don't seek to get that information from sources that are not credible.

O'Donnell: The question becomes did the NFL drop the ball? Or was the NFL willfully ignorant about what was on this tape?

Goodell: Well, we certainly didn't know what was on the tape. But we have been very open and honest. 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.

O'Donnell: But what changed? I mean, on the first tape she was lying unconscious on the ground, being dragged out. Did you really need to see a videotape of Ray Rice punching her in the face to make this decision?

Goodell: No. We certainly didn't and that -- and I will tell you that what we saw on the first videotape was troubling to us in and of itself. But what we saw yesterday was extremely clear, it was extremely graphic and it was sickening. And that's why we took the action yesterday.

O'Donnell: What does that mean that he was suspended indefinitely? Does that mean Ray Rice will never play in the NFL again?

Goodell: I don't rule that out. But 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.

See much more from the interview Wednesday morning on "CBS This Morning."

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