“A law enforcement official says he sent a video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee to an NFL executive five months ago, while Commissioner Roger Goodell has insisted the league didn’t see the violent images until this week,” reports Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press.

The story reports: “The person played The Associated Press a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number on April 9 confirming the video arrived. A female voice expresses thanks and says: ‘You’re right. It’s terrible.’

“Hours after the report Wednesday [Sept. 10, 2014], Goodell announced former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III will conduct a probe into how the league pursued and handled evidence as it investigated claims against Rice.”

Says the AP story, “The law enforcement official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, says he had no further communication with any NFL employee and can’t confirm anyone watched the video. The person said he was unauthorized to release the video but shared it unsolicited, because he wanted the NFL to have it before deciding on Rice’s punishment.”

In response to the AP story, TMZ Sports reports, “Up to now … the NFL has hedged, saying to their knowledge no one in the organization got the tape. But now an NFL source tells us in no uncertain terms … no one at the league got it. And the source goes on to define the league as 3 things — NFL headquarters, NFL Films in New Jersey and the NFL Network in L.A.

“The source goes on to say the NFL headquarters has around 475 employees at its NYC headquarters, and ‘no one at these 3 offices saw it.'”