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The NFL has some explaining to do.

And by the NFL I mean Roger Goodell the league’s commissioner.

Just a few days ago when asked why he or no one in his organization had seen the infamous Ray Rice elevator videotape, Goodell said this to CBS News.

Well, not so fast.

That was before the Associated Press reported that  “A law enforcement official says he sent a video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee Janay Palmer to an NFL executive in April.”

Even still the NFL responded in a statement saying, “We have no knowledge of this. We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on Monday. We will look into it.”

But according to the AP the law enforcement official played a 12-second voicemail for them from an NFL office number on April 9th confirming the video had arrived.

A woman on the tape reportedly expressed thanks for the official sending the tape and then concluded with, “You’re right.  It’s terrible.”

What’s even more terrible is what this means for the NFL if they did indeed receive a copy of the tape.

It means that they are either lying or that their was egregious incompetence inside the league’s offices where the tape was not passed on to Goodell or any of the higher ups.

The latter is hard to believe considering the gravity of the situation and the magnitude of the consequences.

Either way it is not good for Goodell or the league.

What’s interesting is that Goodell has used his lack of knowledge about the tape as a reason to excuse his woefully meager punishment of Ray Rice with  a two game suspension that only after public outrage eventually turned into a six game suspension.

It should be noted that two years ago Goodell told New Orleans Saints management that ignorance was not an acceptable excuse or defense during that team’s infamous Bountygate scandal.

It should also be noted that in the past Goodell has fined and disciplined players who broke rules and tried to use the same ‘but I didn’t know’ defense.

A former FBI head is now launching an independent investigation.

If Goodell did see the tape and lied, it is over!

It’s over for him.

After this potential bombshell from the Associated Press, some of his staunchest defenders who dismissed calls for his resignation are now demanding he step down.

Roger Goodell has a lot of explaining to do.

His credibility is descending faster than the disgraceful elevator ride where this all started.

Consider this.

At this point he may be doing more damage to the NFL than Ray Rice.

Something to think about.​

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