Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti admits mistakes in Ray Rice assault affair
The owner of the National Football League’s Baltimore Ravens apologised on Monday for not demanding the graphic video of former star running back Ray Rice striking his then-fiancee, saying it “never crossed my mind” and he was “deeply sorry”.
Steve Bisciotti offered the mea culpa at a news conference the team called to address an ESPN report that alleged the Ravens had advocated for lenient punishment for Rice and knew about the contents of the video early on.
“There is no excuse for me to have not demanded that video except I wasn’t concerned or interested enough to demand it, never crossed my mind,” said Bisciotti, 54, after the team issued a 15-point rebuttal to the story.
“I’m sorry for that, deeply sorry for that.”
America’s most popular sports league has been engulfed in a crisis for its bungled handling of Rice’s case and a spate of domestic violence cases involving players, creating a scandal that has led some of its biggest sponsors to criticise the NFL publicly.
There is no excuse for me to have not demanded that video except I wasn’t concerned or interested enough to demand it
At issue is how the league initially suspended Rice for two games for punching now-wife Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City, New Jersey, casino elevator, but reversed course when a video was later released showing the punch that knocked out Palmer.