NFL

Rice confessed to Goodell in June

Ray Rice confessed to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell back in June that he slugged his fiancée in the face — knocking her out cold in an Atlantic City elevator, sources said Thursday.

The stunning revelation shoots down Goodell’s claims to CBS that Rice’s account of the casino fight was “ambiguous.”

“Ray didn’t lie to the commissioner,” a source told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” about the June 16 meeting.

“He told the full truth to Goodell. He made it clear he had hit her, and he told Goodell he was sorry and that it wouldn’t happen again.”

Goodell claims he eased up on the elevator-punch probe — leading to a paltry two-game suspension — because he was trying to be sensitive to the victim, a team owner said Thursday.

Goodell told owners over the summer that Janay Rice took part of the blame for the incident and convinced him she was knocked out because she fell during the scuffle, according to The Wall Street Journal. The commissioner claims he had not seen the infamous elevator video at that point, which shows Rice knock her out with a vicious left hook — though the AP reported Wednesday that the footage was sent to NFL headquarters in April.

Meanwhile, the league and CBS scrapped plans to open its inaugural “Thursday Night Football” game between the Ravens and the Steelers with Jay Z’s “Run This Town,” featuring Rihanna — who was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Chris Brown.

Instead, a focus was placed on the Rice incident and included an interview with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti.