The Ravens and the NFL were reeling Friday night from an explosive report stating the team conducted a wide-ranging cover-up of Ray Rice’s elevator assault almost immediately after it happened in February.
In a 7,000-word story published shortly after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s apologetic news conference, ESPN reported Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and several high-ranking team officials worked feverishly to keep Rice out of jail and keep the video of him knocking out his then-fiancee from ever becoming public.
The network also reported that, once the video was released Sept. 8 by TMZ, Bisciotti cut Rice and immediately tried to buy the former Rutgers star’s silence with a post-football job offer with the team.
Rice did not go quietly after his release and indefinite suspension by Goodell, announcing this week he is appealing the NFL’s penalty because it amounts to “double jeopardy” after Rice was already banned two games last month.
The Ravens released a statement late Friday claiming the story contained “numerous errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions and, perhaps, misunderstandings,” though the team refused to specify any.
“The Ravens will address all of these [problems with the story] next week in Baltimore after our trip to Cleveland for Sunday’s game against the Browns,” the statement concluded.
ESPN responded immediately by saying the network “stands behind [the] reporting” of the story’s authors, which include Pulitzer Prize winner Don Van Natta Jr.
The most damaging detail in the report alleged the Ravens’ security director knew the exact details of the elevator incident just hours after it happened Feb. 15 at the since-closed Revel casino because a police lieutenant described the video to him as the lieutenant was watching it.
That contradicts the claim by Bisciotti and Ravens officials that they only knew what happened based on Rice’s statements to them.
The network also said Bisciotti, general manager Ozzie Newsome and team president Dick Cass conspired with Rice’s criminal attorney to press for leniency with Goodell and the Atlantic City prosecutor.
The hope was to get Rice into a pretrial diversion program, which he ultimately achieved, because the video of the incident would not be allowed to become public.
When TMZ released the video last week, the Ravens and Goodell claimed they disciplined Rice further because the second video — which the team and league claimed never to have seen — didn’t match what Rice told them.
ESPN, however, quoted four sources insisting Rice told the truth to the team and Goodell about the gruesomeness of the elevator incident.
The network also reported Ravens coach John Harbaugh wanted Rice to be cut as soon as he was told of the details of the incident, but the coach was overruled by Bisciotti, Newsome and Cass.