Ravens owner takes on Rice inquiries

Sep 22, 2014 - 9:17 PM Owings Mills, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti still stands by his stance that no one in the organization saw the now infamous tape of Ray Rice knocking out his now-wife, Janay Palmer, in an Atlantic City casino elevator in February.

Bisciotti called a press conference Monday to discuss a recent report regarding the timing of when the Ravens and NFL officials actually witnessed the disturbing video.

"It's a bad picture and that's why we responded with the facts that we know them to be," Bisciotti said of the allegations of misdirection and misleading by the Ravens in the case. "I'm not happy with it."

The team also responded to ESPN's "Outside the Lines" report on its website with what the team is calling "errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions and, perhaps, misunderstandings."

There were 15 bullet points in reference to the allegations.

Bisciotti still contends the Ravens' brass did their jobs, save for doing everything in their power to obtain the footage, and that "no one is losing their job."

"I'm sorry we didn't push harder to get that tape. It certainly seems to me we had the leverage," Bisciotti said at the press conference. "If it had crossed my mind, I would have demanded it."

The owner also opined the reports stem from Rice and his handlers trying to get the running back reinstated from his indefinite suspension.

"The majority of the sources are people that work for Ray," Bisciotti said. "Almost everything in (the report) is anonymous, but it's clear from the subject matter that it's Ray's attorney, it's Ray's agent, it's Ray's friends.

"The best case for reinstatement is to make everyone else look like they're lying."

Bisciotti added Rice will never play for the Ravens again, but believes "this was Ray's one terrible moment."

Near the end of the 50-minute presser, Bisciotti lamented that if the video was released sooner, Rice's suspension may have been lighter.

"If it happened in April, it would have been an unprecedented suspension... (but) I think people would have been a little more forgiving and capable of welcoming him back," Bisciotti said.