TMZ posted a video of former Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée during an altercation at an Atlantic City hotel in February and now that he was released from the team and suspended indefinitely by the NFL, Bookmaking Software readers found out that TMZ reported that the NFL league office never asked to see the elevator security footage from the Revel Hotel and Casino.
Sources connected with the Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City tell TMZ Sports … NO ONE from the NFL ever asked for the video inside the elevator … video that was compelling enough to get Rice instantly fired.
Sources who worked at the casino at the time of the incident tell us … if the NFL had asked for the video, they would have gladly complied. Former employees have told us someone with an affiliation to the NFL saw the video, but we are now certain that someone was not from Goodell’s office or the core NFL executives.
While the league office never asked to see the footage, according to TMZ, league sources said that the NFL could have gotten the security footage from other outlets, like Ray Rice’s lawyer.
Multiple sources tell TMZ Sports … the casino made a copy of the elevator surveillance video for police. We’re also told Rice’s lawyer had a copy of the video, which he got in the criminal case.
An NFL source tells us they requested “any and all information” from law enforcement in the criminal case but got nothing because it was a pending case. But the NFL had other options … namely going to the casino or Rice’s lawyer — but the NFL never bothered to ask.
If this proves to be true, there will be plenty of questions for commissioner Roger Goodell, for example, did he simply turn away from the Rice situation? Was there no true concern for this situation? This negative publicity has affected the NFL’s reputation, but they only have themselves to blame. As in the bookie software industry, the show must go on, and the Ravens host the Steelers on Thursday as 3-point favorites at America’s Bookie. The total for the game is set at 44½.