Per the report, the NFL backed off its investigation into what happened between Ray and Janay after Goodell met with the couple in June. During that meeting, Janay told Goodell that she had hit Ray and that she felt partially responsible for what happened on Feb. 15.
An unnamed NFL owner told the WSJ that Goodell left the June meeting with the Rices believing that Janay had become unconscious because she fell during the scuffle, not because Rice punched her. Goodell didn't push for further details becuase he didn't want to press the issue with her.
Goodell has previously been criticized for never interviewing Janay one-on-one, only doing so while she was in the same room as the perpetrator of her abuse.
According to the report, Goodell "felt it would have been insensitive to question Janay Rice's story because it would have come across as an indictment of her character."
That two-game suspension turned into an indefinite suspension on Sept. 8 when TMZ released a video showing Rice punching his then-fiancée. Rice was released by the Ravens that same day.
This all comes back to the the second video, though if the NFL had obtained it in the first place, none of this would even be an issue. Goodell has insisted that the league did everything in its power to obtain the video before TMZ released it on Monday.
A report from the Associated Press on Wednesday suggests otherwise. According to the AP report, the video in question was delivered to NFL Headquarters on April 9, more than two months before Goodell met with the Rices.
Goodell responded to the AP report by announcing that former FBI Director Robert Mueller would be conducting an independent investigation into what the NFL knew about the Rice video and when the league knew it.
There's no timeline on the investigation but all findings will be made public once Mueller finishes.
