Ray Rice to Argue That Elevator Video Was Rigged

Suspended NFL player Ray Rice will reportedly argue that the elevator video showing him punching and knocking out his wife Janay was edited. His defense is expected to be presented as part of his appeal against the indefinite suspension slapped by the league after the CCTV footage was released online by TMZ.

In a report, ESPN said that Rice will slam the extension of his suspension which he claimed was based on an "edited videotape."

ESPN sources revealed that the tape of the domestic violence incident was a "cleaned-up, whittled down and condensed version" of what happened in the Atlantic City casino elevator.

They also claimed that Robert Mueller, who was tasked to investigate on the case, will get a copy of the original and full version of the CCTV tape. It can be recalled that the video prompted the Baltimore Ravens to release its running back and also the NFL to suspend the player indefinitely.

Earlier, the league just slapped Rice with a two-game suspension because of the incident. This received widespread debate and criticism on how the NFL investigated and dealt with the matter. Some even called for the resignation of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for failing to properly investigate the incident. Goodell, in his defense, said that the league never received a copy of the elevator video before it was released by TMZ.

In response to the rigging issues, TMZ, in a separate report, admitted that it did edit the video but only because the original was "jerky."

"As we initially reported, the original raw video was jerky -- in that it would move forward  and then in reverse every couple of frames ... so we removed the reverse frames," TMZ explained.

It, however, added that they clearly indicated it in their original report and even included the raw unedited version of the CCTV footage showing Rice knocking out Janay. TMZ even advised Rice's team to scroll down the page to locate the raw video file.

As the investigation on the incident continues, women groups hope that the result will eventually favor the rights of women even if Janay has clearly moved on from the incident. She is now even defending her husband's actions and slamming netizens for intruding into their private lives. Her supposed-to-be battle became the fight of other women and those females silently protesting these types of violent acts.

The National Organization for Women, in a statement, slammed the NFL for not gathering factual data during their investigation.

"The NFL sets the example for college, high school, middle school and even elementary school football programs.  And the example it is setting right now is simply unacceptable," the statement read.

The group also called for a new leadership in the league that will "transform the culture of violence against women that pervades the NFL."