Report: Ray Rice Will Argue NFL Made Decision Based On Edited TMZ Video

The NFL Players Association filed an appeal of the indefinite suspension on behalf of Ray Rice on Sept. 16.

Ray Rice will argue that the NFL extended his suspension "on the basis of an edited [TMZ] videotape," reported ESPN's Adam Schefter.

AP Photo / Mel Evans

According to ESPN, "Legal sources told Schefter that the TMZ tape of Rice hitting his then-fiancee was a cleaned-up, whittled down and condensed version of the events that took place in the Atlantic City casino elevator."

Via tmz.com

Mobile users can watch the video here.

Robert Mueller, the man appointed by the NFL to oversee the investigation of how the league handled the case, is expected to have access to the full elevator security video, sources also told ESPN.

AP Photo / Matt York

Mueller was the director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013. He has also led the United States Department of Justice, working on cases involving such things as white-collar crime, financial fraud, terrorism, drugs, and corruption.

The new Rice report comes just days after ESPN's "Outside The Lines" said "purposeful misdirection" was conducted by the Ravens investigation during the investigation.

Outside The Lines @OTLonESPN

OTL REPORT:Purposeful misdirection by Ravens, scant investigation by NFL in Rice case. @DVNJr @KVanValkenburg report. http://t.co/sH5Cd12jog

10:13 PM - 19 Sep 2014

The Ravens later told BuzzFeed News the "Outside The Lines" report contained "numerous errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions and, perhaps, misunderstandings." To which ESPN responded by saying "we stand by our reporting."

ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk

ESPN's statement in reply to the Ravens' response: "We stand by our reporting."

02:21 AM - 20 Sep 2014