Former FBI Dir Robert Mueller's investigation into the NFL's handling of the Ray Rice scandal determined that the league "was aware of the nature of the altercation but chose not to aggressively pursue additional information," according to a front-page piece by Belson & Eder of the N.Y. TIMES. The report was released Thursday and found that the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, "did not possess and had not seen a video" that showed Rice punching his then-fiancée Janay Palmer in an elevator before Goodell’s "suspension of Mr. Rice for two games in July." However, the report also stated that the league "made little effort to pursue the case even after it 'possessed substantial information suggesting a serious event had occurred inside the elevator.'" The report said that the Ravens "had received information about the video before the two-game suspension but did not share it with the league." The NFL was aware of the "magnitude of the encounter," but still "agreed to a light punishment" for Rice. Mueller and his team "interviewed more than 200 people and looked specifically for phone calls made from NFL offices to numbers in New Jersey." In a statement, Giants President & CEO John Mara and Steelers President Art Rooney II, who oversaw the Mueller Report, "expressed relief that Mr. Mueller’s investigation found that the NFL had not received the video, as the commissioner contended from the outset." But they admitted, "We were slow to react, and in the case of Ray Rice, the original punishment was insufficient. ... The steps taken by the NFL to investigate this matter were inadequate." They said that an enhanced personal conduct policy recently instituted by the NFL "should help the league avoid similar pitfalls in the future" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/9). In Boston, Ben Volin writes Goodell "emerges from the scandal largely unscathed and with the support of the NFL’s 32 owners firmly intact" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/9).
REPORT DETAILS: In DC, Mark Maske reports the 96-page document faulted NFL investigators for, "among other things, failing to contact police officers involved in the case, the Atlantic County prosecutor’s office and representatives of the hotel at which the incident occurred." The report: "Had the League taken additional investigative steps, it may have obtained more information about what occurred inside the elevator, including possibly securing the in-elevator video" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/9). Mueller pointed out that league investigators "did not contact law enforcement about obtaining the video, despite Goodell’s statement on Sept. 8 saying the NFL had 'requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator.'" He added that the investigation "found no proof that a woman at the NFL acknowledged receipt of the video in a voice-mail message," as the AP reported. Mueller recommended that the NFL establish an investigative unit to "probe domestic violence issues, among his other suggestions." But in N.Y., Red & Thompson note Mueller "stopped short of saying the NFL should agree with the Players Association’s proposal to jointly appoint an independent arbitrator to decide on player punishment matters" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/9). In Baltimore, Walker & Wilson in a front-page piece report Goodell in a memo to NFL staffers "thanked employees for cooperating with Mueller and said the report’s findings 'confirm what I have always believed to be true.'" Mueller said that his investigators "reviewed millions of printed documents, text messages, emails and electronic files." He added that he also "used forensics experts to search more than 400 computers for digital traces of the Rice video." Ravens sources have said that they "provided phones and computers for review by Mueller’s investigators." Ravens President Dick Cass in September "instructed all team employees ... to maintain all electronic records, including emails, text messages and phone records, in advance of the inquiry" (Baltimore SUN, 1/9).
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Rooney expressed relief that the investigation found
that the NFL had not received the video |
GOOD TO GO? Rooney said that there was "resounding support for Goodell from league owners, who were briefed on the matter" Thursday morning (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/9). In DC, Cindy Boren wrote Goodell now "is extremely unlikely to go anywhere, but a great deal of damage remains to be repaired and he is the man who will be charged with doing it." His job "was never really in danger and the men who pay his salary backed him yet again Thursday" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/8). In Boston, Alex Reimer asks of league owners, "Why wouldn’t they have confidence in Goodell?" The NFL’s bottom line "didn’t take a hit this year, as TV ratings remain strong." If there is one message that we "can take from this NFL season, it’s that the league is stronger than ever." That is likely one of the reasons why so many owners "still support Goodell even though the outraged masses were demanding him to resign last fall" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/9). SNY’s Jonas Schwartz said the investigation "did what was always the true intention: Take the heat off of Goodell for a few months, let it cool down so he could go on and make money for all the owners” (“Daily News Live,” SNY, 1/8). ESPN.com's Ian O'Connor wrote Goodell "needs to understand he remains the loser here." The report "breaks down glaring inadequacies in the league's attempt to obtain the inside-the-elevator video before Goodell handed down his pathetic two-game suspension of Rice." Even if you "believe the Mueller narrative that had NFL security guilty of showing institutional deference to law enforcement, or the parallel narrative that had Goodell's personal detectives relying on Inspector Clouseau-like techniques, the commissioner still has no good excuse for initially suspending Rice for two games" (ESPN.com, 1/8).
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND: In N.Y., Mike Lupica writes people can decide for themselves "if you think this was an inside job," but a former FBI director pointed out there is "no evidence that the tape was ever sent, or received." So it is "hard to hang Goodell on that one now." He "may have made a mess of his handling of the whole thing with Ray Rice from the start, and gotten himself on the wrong side of history." However, Mueller "says he did not lie" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/9). SI.com's Michael Rosenberg wrote, "I don’t think Mueller is lying, and I don’t think Goodell asked him to lie." The commissioner and his advisors "are too clever for that." They "just asked Mueller to find a different truth" (SI.com, 1/8). CSNBAYAREA.com's Ray Ratto wrote Mueller in the report "doesn’t point out that the great likelihood was that the NFL didn’t WANT to see the tape knowing what was on it, because even implausible deniability is better than no deniability at all" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 1/8).
QUESTIONS UNANSWERED: USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell writes, "All that hype and no sizzle." Nobody's head -- including Goodell's -- "has been served on a platter," and no smoking gun "was discovered." Mueller's report still "leaves a lot of questions unanswered." On the scale of revelation, it "is such a contrast to the last time a report from an independent investigation involving a high-profile NFL situation was released." Bell: "Remember the Ted Wells Report?" (USA TODAY, 1/9). In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes under the header, "We Didn't Need Mueller To Tell Us Ravens, NFL Bungled Rice Scandal." In the report, the "only thing you're going to be shocked by is the lack of any shocking revelations" (Baltimore SUN, 1/9). THE MMQB's Andrew Brandt wrote under the header, "No Smoking Gun, No Satisfying Resolution" (MMQB.SI.com, 1/8). SPORTING NEWS' David Steele wrote the NFL "can’t be surprised by the report’s result," nor by the public’s belief that this "is exactly how it would turn out" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 1/8). SNY’s Eamon McAnaney said, “Enjoy cashing that check, former FBI special investigator. What a waste of everybody’s time” (“Loud Mouths,” SNY, 1/8).
INDEPENDENCE DAY? ESPN’s Keith Olbermann named Mueller the “world’s worst” person in sports after completing his "investigation of the NFL’s non-investigation of the Ray Rice incident." He said Mueller’s effort "may also turn out to be a non-investigation," as he had "months of unprecedented access to a league his law firm had already done extensive business with and thus was anything but a neutral party.” Olbermann: “You concluded what everybody else in America had figured out … that the NFL pursued that videotape with the tenacity of a snail … and you wrote it up in a way that made it look like there shouldn't be firings or any kind of accountability in the NFL because of the extraordinary malfeasance” (“Olbermann,” ESPN2, 1/8). ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said, “It’s about what I expected. You say the NFL should have done more. We already knew that." Wilbon added, "This report, to have any real impact, would have had to have had a ‘gotcha’ element to it. ... It didn’t do that. ... I don’t want to put Mueller’s reputation sort of in question here, but it’s allegedly independent. Call it an in-house investigation, which is what it is" ("PTI," ESPN, 1/8).
SILVER LINING: On Long Island, Bob Glauber writes Goodell and team owners with domestic violence "must continue to focus on a problem that for too long was largely ignored" by both the league and "society in general." In the end, Goodell and other league execs "took a much-needed look at where things went wrong and resolved to address the issue in a much more effective way." New policies recently put into place "are an important first step." Goodell "needs to continue changing the culture of his league" (NEWSDAY, 1/9). USA TODAY's Christine Brennan writes the fact that Mueller in the report did "admonish the league" for deferring to law enforcement is "very good news, because it means that the NFL's new, stronger policy on personal conduct and behavior on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault may get tougher still, which should be a signal to all other leagues and sports entities, nationally and internationally, as well as the unions that defend the players, just how serious these crimes are" (USA TODAY, 1/9). Meanwhile, NFL Network's Michael Silver said, “I hope that the league will take this opportunity to partner with the players’ association because due process is an important thing” ("NFL Total Access," NFL Network, 1/8).
