Ravens owner regrets initially having ‘zero desire’ to see Rice video

Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said Monday that his biggest mistake in the handling of the Ray Rice situation is that he didn’t get an earlier look at the surveillance video from inside the elevator -- and had no interest in seeing it.

“I lacked a whole lot of interest. Zero desire to see that tape,” Bisciotti said in a news conference called to address and dispute a lengthy story by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” that said the Ravens knew the details of Rice striking his future wife inside the casino elevator within hours of the incident.

“We responded to an article that questioned our integrity and character,” said Bisciotti, who sat alone at the dais and answered questions for 47 minutes at team headquarters.

Just before the news conference began, the Ravens issued a lengthy statement that detailed and disputed several statements from the 7,000-word ESPN.com story posted Friday.

According to the story, Bisciotti, Ravens President Dick Cass and GM Ozzie Newsome pressured NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Rice, a star running back, for just two games in the wake of the assault. The owner denied that.

“I don’t think the league would take too kindly to us badgering them,” Bisciotti said, adding: “I expected four to six games. I was as surprised as everybody else because it was two.”

Although Goodell originally suspended Rice for two games, that was increased to an indefinite suspension after TMZ released the video from inside the elevator on Sept. 8. That’s when the Ravens terminated Rice’s contract.

Asked why the Ravens didn’t release Rice after seeing the original video from outside the elevator, in which Rice drags out an unconscious Janay Palmer and stands over her as she’s face-down on the ground, Bisciotti said: “I’m not that good. I’m not that honorable I guess. I was not prepared to take the worst-case punishment against somebody I have loving feelings for.”

Bisciotti, who made his fortune by founding an engineering staffing firm, said he doesn’t plan to fire anyone at the Ravens for their handling of the Rice situation.

“The people in my organization did their jobs,” he said. “Nobody’s losing a job here. Very confident of that.”