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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh urged team executives to release Ray Rice in February after seeing video of Rice dragging his unconscious fianc\u00E9e out of a casino elevator, but the executives overruled him, according to a report from Don Van Natta Jr. and Kevin Van Valkenburg&amp;nbsp;of ESPN.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&lt;b&gt;&amp;nbsp;Ravens release statement refuting ESPN report&lt;/b&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to the report, Baltimore&amp;nbsp;owner Steve Bisciotti, team president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome rejected Harbaugh's&amp;nbsp;request. The Ravens, in the story, denied that Harbaugh wanted to release Rice until Sept. 8, when TMZ published video from inside the elevator that showed Rice striking his fianc\u00E9e.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;MMQB: Blame for Rice situation goes beyond just Goodell&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After offensive lineman Jah Reid was arrested March 8 in Florida, the third Ravens player to be arrested in the offseason along with Rice and receiver&amp;nbsp;Deonte Thompson, Harbaugh reportedly again went to the team's executives and recommended the release of all three players.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Newsome reportedly \"bristled at the recommendation, saying he was the decision-maker in the matter, not Harbaugh, and he believed in second chances.\"\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;BURKE: Goodell calls for action, sidesteps details in press conference&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another portion of the report states that Rice received a pair of text messages from&amp;nbsp;Bisciotti&amp;nbsp;after Rice had been cut from the team on Sept. 8. The texts, according to the ESPN report, said the team would \u201Chave a job waiting for you with the Ravens helping young guys getting acclimated to the league\u201D once Rice's NFL career was over.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;Report disputes&amp;nbsp;Goodell's&amp;nbsp;account of June 16 meeting with Rice\u200B&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When contacted by ESPN, the Ravens did not deny Bisciotti sent the messages. According to the report, Rice later told friends he thought Bisciotti was implying the&amp;nbsp;franchise would look out for him if he \u201Ckept quiet and stuck to the story that he had misled team officials and Goodell.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;- &lt;em&gt;Molly Geary and Dan Gartland&lt;/em&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/09/19/baltimore-ravens-ray-rice-john-harbaugh-executives>