7 Things We Learned From Roger Goodell's Interview About the Ray Rice Situation on CBS

1.

Why has the Ray Rice situation turned into such a mess for the NFL? Did the league see the video of Rice that TMZ Sports released Monday prior to TMZ Sports releasing it? And why in the world did the former Ravens running back only receive a two-game suspension back in July in light of what took place between him and his then-fiancée Janay Palmer inside of an elevator at the Revel Atlantic City hotel and casino in Atlantic City, N.J. in February?

Those were just a few of the questions that NFL fans—and the country as a whole—had this week after TMZ Sports released a highly-controversial clip of Rice punchingPalmer. And the outrage over the video demanded answers. So yesterday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sat down with CBS This Morning co-host Norah O'Donnell to discuss the Ray Rice situation, the NFL's attitude towards domestic violence, and the reaction that the league has received from angry fans this week.

Here are the 7 Things We Learned From Roger Goodell's Interview About the Ray Rice Situation on CBS...

2.The NFL is sticking to its story and maintaining that it did NOT see the video of Ray Rice punching Janay Palmer until Monday morning when TMZ Sports released it.

There has been a lot of speculation about whether or not Goodell and the NFL actually saw the video of Rice punching Palmer prior to TMZ Sports releasing it. But in his interview with CBS, Goodell reiterated that the league had not seen it until Monday.

"No one in the NFL [saw the video], to my knowledge," Goodell said.

3.The NFL says that it tried to get the Rice elevator video from law enforcement several times but that it was turned down repeatedly.

Goodell believes that the NFL did everything that they could do to try and get the tape but that they were under the impression that there were legal issues that prevented law enforcement from giving the video to them.

"On multiple occasions, we asked for it," Goodell said. "And on multiple occasions we were told no. I understand that there may be legal restrictions on them sharing that with us. And we've heard that from attorneys general and former attorneys general."

4.Goodell knows that the two-game suspension he gave to Rice initially was insufficient.

To his credit, Goodell is still taking responsibility for giving Rice a two-game suspension in July that was, quite frankly, a joke. While discussing the first video that TMZ Sports released earlier this year, which showed Rice dragging Palmer out of an elevator at the Revel hotel and casino, Goodell acknowledged the mistake he made when he suspended Rice for just two games.

"There was nothing ambiguous about [the first video]," he said. "That was the result that we saw. We did not know what led up to that. We did not know the details of that. We asked for that on several occasions. It was unacceptable in and of itself what we saw on the first tape. And that's why we took action, albeit insufficient action. And we acknowledge that, we took responsibility for that—I did personally—and I take responsibility for that now."

5.There's a chance that Rice might play in the NFL again...

As of right now, the former Ravens running back has been suspended by the NFL "indefinitely." And his NFL career might be over. "I don't rule that out," Goodell said.

But Rice also might be able to work his way back into the league—if he's able to work on his issues during his hiatus from the NFL.

"He would have to make sure that we are fully confident that he is addressing this issue," Goodell said. "Clearly, he has paid a price for the actions he's already taken."

6.…but Goodell hasn't decided exactly what Rice needs to do in order to be reinstated back into the NFL.

While Goodell didn't rule out the possibility of Rice making a return to the league, he admitted that he hasn't really given much thought to what Rice needs to do during his time away from football in order to convince Goodell that he deserves to make a comeback.

"I haven't thought about that because, right now, I think the focus is he's got a lot of work to do, the family has a lot of work to do," Goodell said. "We're going to obviously provide whatever resources we can to help them work through that."

7.The NFL knows it has a domestic violence problem.

It's safe to say that we all knew this before Goodell's CBS interview. But he acknowledged it during the interview and spoke at length about the steps the NFL is taking to try and eradicate the problem.

"We're saying we have a problem," he said. "We have one incident, that's a problem…We have had lots of conversations, lots of listening and learning right here in this room with experts, not just in the last two weeks or three weeks or month, but over the last couple of years to say, 'How can we deal with this issue better? How can we prevent the cases from happening?'"

8.Goodell doesn't feel like his job is on the line.

For all of those people out there yelling, "FIRE GOODELL," the NFL Commissioner isn't worried about losing his job anytime soon.

"I'm used to criticism," he said. "I'm used to that. Every day, I have to earn my stripes. Every day, I have to...do a better job. And that's my responsibility to the game, to the NFL, and to what I see as society. People expect a lot from the NFL. We accept that. We embrace that. That's our opportunity to make a difference not just in the NFL, but in society in general. We have that ability. We have that influence. And we have to do that."