Looks like the NFL has some splaining to do.

It is all PR.

He said a source led him astray (him and several other journalists apparently).

You know the scene in Chicago where the lawyer is using a ventriloquist dummy that is Roxie.

Peter King is that dummy and Roger Goodall is the lawyer.

ED UPDATE: King has released a statement of his own at The MMQB. And if you weren’t confused before, you sure will be now. King says that he talked to a source and “assumed” the NFL had seen the tape

Earlier this summer a source I trusted told me he assumed the NFL had seen the damaging video that was released by TMZ on Monday morning of Rice slugging his then-fiancée, Janay Palmer, in an Atlantic City elevator. The source said league officials had to have seen it. This source has been impeccable, and I believed the information. So I wrote that the league had seen the tape. I should have called the NFL for a comment, a lapse in reporting on my part. The league says it has not seen the tape, and I cannot refute that with certainty. No one from the league has ever knocked down my report to me, and so I was surprised to see the claim today that league officials have not seen the tape.

I hope when this story is fully vetted, we all get the truth and nothing but the truth.

But apparently as noted above Yahoo and ESPN are reporting on this too.

I could have sworn that this video was already available to the general public a couple if months ago.

between the NFL, the Ravens, and the mainstream sports media over who knew exactly what and when they knew it...

is going on. One story had several different reporters stating that the NFL disclosed that they viewed the second video, and some actually used it as a justification for Rice "defending" himself. They look really bad now.

The whole denial of seeing the video and suspension is craven. In fact I bet Rice has a shot at winning a lawsuit because the player's contract does not allow for modification of a punishment after it has first been adjudicated. If he can prove that the NFL had access to the videotape, then I think he can win such a case. He has nothing to lose but to burn the whole house down now (unless he already has a backdoor deal lined up - lifting suspension later in the year and letting him sign with a playoff contender. Lots will be willing to take the heat to win.

The league isn't punishing him (again), his team cut him...Of course we can speculate to the end of time is there was some collusion going on so Goodell could save face...

Even then, Rice wouldn't be filing any hypothetical suit -- The NFLPA would be doing that for him...

That is punishing him again. The cut is not an issue - the Ravens can cut whoever they want, and his contract wasn't guaranteed.

Interesting to see how the NFLPA will fall on this. It sets a dangerous precedence for them to allow modifications for punishments already adjudicated. That principle alone might cause them to seek redress.

Yes, I imagine the NFLPA will go through the motions and put up some nominal resistance in fighting this, but I don't see them fighting too hard because Rice is a persona non grata public relations nightmare...That new video released today is practically radioactive...

And even though it's CYA bullshit, we don't know how hard the NFL plans to play the "We didn't know about this information before/Rice lied to us" -card, which should give them the legal wiggle-room they need...

NFL is total CYA mode.

I quit football years ago and haven't missed it since. Having Sundays free to do anything other than follow football has been wonderful.