Kraft defends Goodell, doubts Rice will play in NFL again

Robert Kraft has Roger Goodell's back. Ray Rice? Not so much.

The Patriots owner went on CBS This Morning on Tuesday and said he doubts Rice -- released by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL after video surfaced showing him punching his then-fiancee and now-wife in an Atlantic City elevator and knocking her unconscious -- will ever return to the field.

“Well, I don’t think he will play another NFL game,” Kraft said. "I would be shocked if some team would pick him up."

But he defended Goodell, who has come under mounting criticism for his handling of the case.

“He had no knowledge of this video,” Kraft said. “The way he has handled this situation himself, coming out with the mea culpa in his statement a couple weeks ago, or ten days ago, and setting a very clear policy of how we conduct ourselves in the NFL, I thought was excellent. Anyone who is second guessing that doesn’t know him.”

To quote Michael David Smith of NBC's Pro Football Talk:

Of course, it’s fair to ask why Goodell hadn’t seen the video. If the NFL had done a more thorough investigation, Goodell would have seen the video. And instead of praising Goodell for his mea culpa regarding the initial two-game suspension, why not criticize Goodell for having to deliver that mea culpa in the first place?