--- description: A new report contradicts the commissioner's comments title: Ray Rice Told NFL, Roger Goodell That He Hit Janay, Report Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3babfe55ff7bdaa3/6986a29755a859ac63a82791/203f96dedc9642bf8268cb2d11bfaf81-0.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [NFL](/tag/nfl/) ## NFL Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ray Rice Told NFL Head in June That He Hit Fiancée, Report Says  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Sep 12, 2014 1:25 PM CUT  NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks at a press conference at the NFL's spring meeting in Atlanta on May 20, 2014. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks at a press conference at the NFL's spring meeting in Atlanta on May 20, 2014.David Goldman—AP  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Sep 12, 2014 1:25 PM CUT Ray Rice told NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a June 16 meeting that he had hit his then-fiancée in February, according to[ a new report](http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/%5F/id/11509397/ray-rice-told-nfl-roger-goodell-june-had-hit-wife "undefined"), contradicting Goodell’s claim that he did not know about the punch until video of it surfaced this week. ESPN, citing multiple unnamed sources, reports that Goodell heard it directly from Rice. “Ray didn’t lie to the commissioner,” one source told the network’s _Outside the Lines_ program. “He told the full truth to Goodell—he made it clear he had hit her, and he told Goodell he was sorry and that it wouldn’t happen again.” The league indefinitely suspended Rice on Monday after footage of him hitting his now-wife Janay Rice was published by TMZ, and Goodell and other league officials have said they never saw the video before then, though [at least one report that has suggested otherwise](http://time.com/3319367/ray-rice-video-nfl/ "undefined"). “When we met with Ray Rice and his representatives, it was ambiguous about what actually happened,” Goodell said during an interview with CBS News that aired Tuesday. \[[_ESPN_](http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/%5F/id/11509397/ray-rice-told-nfl-roger-goodell-june-had-hit-wife "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3340058/ray-rice-roger-goodell-nfl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3340058/ray-rice-roger-goodell-nfl/"},"headline":"Ray Rice Told NFL Head in June That He Hit Fiancée, Report Says","datePublished":"2014-09-12T13:25:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:09:12.433Z","description":"A new report contradicts the commissioner's comments","url":"https://time.com/3340058/ray-rice-roger-goodell-nfl/","keywords":["NFL"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3babfe55ff7bdaa3/6986a29755a859ac63a82791/203f96dedc9642bf8268cb2d11bfaf81-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3babfe55ff7bdaa3/6986a29755a859ac63a82791/203f96dedc9642bf8268cb2d11bfaf81-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Roger Goodell","caption":"Roger Goodell","creditText":"David Goldman—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nfl/","name":"NFL"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3340058/ray-rice-roger-goodell-nfl/","name":"Ray Rice Told NFL Head in June That He Hit Fiancée, Report Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What to do with Roger Goodell?","description":"So Rice is gone, but after what many see as a series of missteps in handing down his punishment — what should Roger Goodell’s fate be?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Sb2DlMw9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-11T21:00:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Sb2DlMw9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3340058/ray-rice-roger-goodell-nfl/","duration":"PT2M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3340058/ray-rice-roger-goodell-nfl/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```