In a recent turn of the events, it has come to light that the video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancée was sent to an NFL executive three months ago, according to a law enforcement official. However, the officials stressed that they didn't see the brutal actions until this week.
The source, on condition of anonymity, gave evidence to Associated Press in the form of a 12 second voicemail of a female official calling from an NFL number on 9 April.
"You're right. It's terrible," said the female in the voicemail.
However, the source could not confirm if anyone watched the video.
Meanwhile, NFL officials have repeatedly stated that they wanted to get the video before they decide on the case of Ray Rice, who hit then-fiancée Janay Palmer in an elevator in Atlantic City.
The officials have rubbished the accusation and said that no member of the league had seen it before the release of the video by TMZ on Monday.
"No one in the NFL, to my knowledge had seen a new video of what happened on the elevator until it was posted online," Goodell told CBS.
"We assumed that there was a video. We asked for video. But we were never granted that opportunity."
Previously, Rice was suspended for two games because of a domestic violence incident but on Monday, NFL terminated him from Baltimore Ravens and suspended the player indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said that the incident has changed him and will affect his evaluation of players in the future.
"It will never be the same," Carroll said.
"I have to admit, my awareness is different than it was and will never be the same. Hopefully, we can head off any issue that could come up in the future."
Carroll discussed with his team about the incident and offered them support in any such domestic problems.
"I talked to the team about the serious nature of it," Carroll said. "It's an extremely serious situation. We made them aware that we will help them in any way if they have concerns about it. We will try to elevate their awareness. I think it's another example of an enormous situation that people learn from and grow so much from."
