Ravens president Dick Cass and club senior director of security Darren Sanders should have apprised NFL officials of what they had been told about the video of former tailback Ray Rice hitting his then-fiancée at an Atlantic City hotel, according to the report of the league’s independent findings of the Rice incident.
The report, which was overseen by former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III, claims Sanders had been briefed by an Atlantic City detective about surveillance footage of Rice striking Janay Palmer at the Revel Hotel. Sanders, the report said, took notes on the call, and shared his findings with Cass, General Manager Ozzie Newsome and head coach John Harbaugh. The report also said Rice’s attorney advised Cass the video was “terrible.”
However, the Mueller Report claims neither Cass nor Sanders told the league of those conversations, though both Ravens officials said they would have shared the information if asked.
“Sanders and Cass stated that if the League had asked them directly for information, they would have responded to the League’s request,” Mueller wrote in the 96-page report on the investigation of the NFL’s handling of the Rice incident."That said, the Ravens possessed this information and well understood that the events inside the elevator were under League investigation. They should have shared with the League information critical to its investigation.”
The report also said the NFL needed to more aggressively seek information from the Ravens as the investigation progressed.
The Ravens released a short statement from Cass on the Mueller Report Thursday, with the club president saying the organization "[looks] forward to cooperating with the League on any new policies resulting from this report.”
The Ravens did not specifically address any of the report’s findings, though the organization has spoken in some length on its approach to the Rice investigation.
“More than anything, the report reminds us all of the gravity of the consequences of intimate partner abuse and the lessons we must all learn,” Cass said Thursday. “We have taken steps to educate ourselves, and others, about this important issue, and will continue to do so.”