Janay Rice On Roger Goodell: ‘I Can’t Say He’s Telling The Truth’
In an interview set to air in the coming week, Janay Rice is speaking out about her husband’s suspension from the NFL, and the way league commissioner Roger Goodell handled the situation.
As the Washington Post notes, Rice first made extensive comments to ESPN, before filming the interview with Matt Lauer, parts of which will be broadcast on the Today Show on both Monday and Tuesday. In the interview, Rice suggests that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell may have lied about seeing a second video of the domestic incident that led to her husband’s suspension.
Matt Lauer: “Was Ray ambiguous?”
Janay Rice: “No. Not in any way. And, you know, I feel like if they wanted to know more details then they would have asked. But there were no further questions. It — it’s been consistent with everything that he’s been saying since February.”
Matt Lauer: “So when the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, says Ray was ambiguous and the NFL says that it was a starkly different sequence of events, is the commissioner lying?”
Janay Rice: “I can’t say he’s telling the truth. You know? I know for a fact that he told — that Ray told the honest truth that he’s been telling from February. So —”
Matt Lauer: “And you think the league and the commissioner covered their butts?”
Janay Rice: “I think they did what they had to do for themselves.”
As the Daily Mail observes, Goodell claimed that Ray Rice was “ambiguous” in describing the February elevator attack. Video of the incident surfaced in September, prompting an indefinite suspension for Rice. Last week, that suspension was overturned by U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones, leaving Rice a free agent. Goodell’s handling of the incident has been widely criticized, as the Inquisitr previously noted.
In NBC “Today” interview, Janay Rice says: “I can’t say Roger Goodell is telling the truth.” http://t.co/bzabwaWTs4 pic.twitter.com/wfdy8FtqRQ
— Cindy Boren (@CindyBoren) November 30, 2014
In other excerpts from the interview, Janay details her reaction in the moments immediately following the attack, revealing the frustration and anger she felt. While she was initially furious with her then fiance, Rice asserts that she knew the pair would reconcile.
“Of course, in the back of my mind and in my heart I knew that our relationship wouldn’t be over because I know that this isn’t us, and it’s not him.”
Janay Rice also expressed her hopes that another team would be willing to look past the incident and sign her husband.
[Image: Today via the Daily Mail]
