Andy Marlin/USA Today
ESPN revealed Wednesday that the NFL never asked law enforcement for videotape of Ray Rice knocking out his fianceé. On Sept. 8, TMZ released the now-infamous video. On Sept. 9, Commissioner Goodell said he would’ve been harder on Rice if he obtained the video in the seven months after the altercation, “but we were never granted that opportunity.” A day later, the league’s lead investigator told the director of security that he never requested the video from the one agency that had it, the Atlantic City Police Department. “Again, I never spoke to anyone at the casino or the police department about the tape,” Jim Buckley wrote on Sept. 9. On Wednesday, the NFL announced a new personal conduct policy that will independently investigate players—though it won’t do much good if the lead investigator doesn’t know where to look.