From the original video posted on TMZ it was clear that Ray Rice spit on his now wife Janay Palmer before knocking her out. There are conflicting reports that a longer video exists of her spitting on him. The fact remains the altercation didn’t warrant her being rendered unconscious. ESPN’s Outside the Lines spoke to Casino Workers who watch the video several times and here is how they described it.
One former staffer said Rice, the former Baltimore Ravens running back, spat in his then-fiancée’s face twice, “once outside the elevator and once inside,” prompting her to retaliate with movements that were ultimately countered with a knockout punch. According to the men, as Rice punched Palmer, the elevator the couple rode was rapidly approaching the hotel lobby just two floors above the casino floor. A security staffer, dispatched from his lobby post, saw Rice starting to drag his fiancée, who appeared to still be unconscious, out of the elevator.
“Get him away from her! Get him away from her!” the first responder was told by another security officer over a radio, one former security staffer told “Outside the Lines.” The staffer had full access to the security footage.
“The first thing he [Rice] said is, ‘She’s intoxicated. She drank too much. I’m just trying to get her to the room,'” one staffer said.
“When she regained consciousness she said, ‘How could you do this to me? I’m the mother of your kid,'” that same staffer told “Outside the Lines.”
With his fiancée still groggy, Rice dialed somebody on his cellphone and said, “I’m getting arrested tonight,” the staffer said. Police arrived in 10 to 15 minutes.
Even though up to 30 hotel staffers saw the video, none were contacted by the NFL or the Ravens to explain what they saw in the video. ESPN easily was able to find more than a few to talk.
Which further leads me to believe the NFL had already seen the video or didn’t want to know what really happened.