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Ravens owner faces latest controversy head-on
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens returned from Cleveland and were met Monday with a horde of about 100 media members amid new reports regarding the ongoing Ray Rice saga and his domestic abuse case.
A big road victory against the Browns seemed almost secondary as owner Steve Bisciotti sat on a stage at the team’s practice facility and patiently answered questions for almost 50 minutes regarding the way the team and the NFL handled the case.
A report by ESPN was published last week alleging the Ravens knew about the incriminating video before it publicly surfaced via TMZ. The story also alleged coach John Harbaugh wanted to cut Rice earlier in the year, but was overruled by the front office. Bisciotti and Harbaugh dismissed those allegations, and the Ravens also issued an eight-page report refuting the ESPN article.
Bisciotti also vehemently denied a report that he promised Rice an eventual front office job with the organization if he agreed to stay quiet about the way the incident was handled.
“I cut a guy making $6 million a year,” Bisciotti said. “If I’m promising him to be by his side and hire him for $100,000 a year five years from now so that he can help Harry Swayne in our Player Development Department, if that is considered worthy of him going along, I find that rather absurd because it would take him 250 years to make back the $25 million I took away from him.”
Prior to playing Pittsburgh in Week 2, a new video appeared of Rice apparently assaulting his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City elevator. Just hours after the footage was made public, Baltimore terminated Rice’s contract. He also was suspended indefinitely by the NFL. Both the Ravens and the NFL claimed they had never seen the video from inside the elevator.
Bisciotti did admit he would have handed the situation differently if given another chance.
“I’m sorry that we didn’t push harder to get that tape,” Bisciotti said. “It seems to me in hindsight that we certainly had the leverage to say to Ray and his lawyer that we can’t have him play on our team until we see that last bit of evidence. That’s what we are dealing with now.”
Bisciotti said that it’s “obvious” that the majority of the anonymous sources in the ESPN article work for Rice (his agent, attorney friends, etc.) in order to build a case for his reinstatement to the league. Bisciotti also said no one with the Ravens organization will lose their jobs over the handling of the case.
“The best way to get reinstatement is to get everyone else look like they are lying,” Bisciotti said.
Harbaugh said he was not surprised by the amount of scrutiny the case has brought to the team. However, Harbaugh said his team has been effective focusing on football.
“When you’re in football, you get pretty used to being under attack,” Harbaugh said. “You can’t worry about it. You have to try to do what’s right and do your best.”
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