NFL-Sponsored Study: Ray Rice Investigation was Botched

The Mueller report on the Ray Rice investigation has finally been released Thursday. The NFL-sponsored study did not find anything unexpected. Instead, it reiterated the league's weak domestic abuse policy, adding that the NFL had initially botched the investigation by not doing enough.

In the report, Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director who was hired to investigate how the league handled the case, said that the league's system was too dependent on the information that the law enforcement provided after the incident between the Ravens running back and his fiancé occurred in the elevator of the Revel Casino in Atlantic City.

"The NFL should have done more with the information it had and should have taken additional steps to obtain all available information about the Feb. 15 incident," Mueller said in a statement after releasing his 96-page report.

Mueller wrote in the report, "League investigators did not contact any of the police officers who investigated the incident, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, or the Revel to attempt to obtain or view the in-elevator video or to obtain other information. No one from the league asked Rice or his lawyer whether they would make available for viewing the in-elevator video they received as part of criminal discovery in early April."

The report added that the league failed to follow up with the Ravens on initial conversations regarding whether or not the team had more information.

However, the report did not find any evidence that the league had access to the tape of Rice punching his fiancé Janay Palmer. Mueller detailed his review of phone records and emails, none of which revealed any evidence that a league official saw the clip before it was released by TMZ.

A law enforcement official reportedly sent the NFL a copy of the tape in April. The official reportedly played a voicemail from an NFL office number dated April 9 to the Associated Press that indicated that the tape was received. However, without subpoena power, the Mueller team could not get a hold of the official.

"I took steps to ensure a call from any person at the NFL wouldn't be traced back to me and I was never contacted by the team of investigators hired by the NFL to investigate the NFL," the official said. "I still don't know who confirmed receiving the video and I don't know what that person did with it."

Kathleen Carroll, the AP's executive editor, added, "The Mueller team did ask us for source material and other newsgathering information, but we declined. Everything that we report and confirm goes into our stories. We do not offer up reporters' notes and sources."

Since the release of this report, NFL owners and executives have responded stating that they have learned from their mistakes.

"We were slow to react, and in the case of Ray Rice, the original punishment was insufficient," Giants owner John Mara and Steelers president Art Rooney's statement said. Commissioner Roger Goodell appointed Mara and Rooney as liaisons to the investigation. "In addition, the steps taken by the NFL to investigate this matter were inadequate. Since then, a new policy concerning domestic violence and other rules for conduct violations have been put into place."

"We are grateful to Director Mueller for conducting an extremely thorough and detailed investigation, and we accept his findings and recommendations," Goodell said in a statement. "I want to express my appreciation to John Mara and Art Rooney for their leadership. Director Mueller made a series of very constructive observations and recommendations regarding our prior investigatory procedures. We have already addressed many of these points in the revisions to the Personal Conduct Policy that were announced last month. I look forward to reviewing these recommendations with the league's new Conduct Committee chaired by Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill."

The entire report can be found here.