When the NFL suspended Josh Brown for one game at the beginning of this season for abusing his now ex-wife, they said the short suspension was due to a lack of information about what exactly transpired. After a report revealed that Brown’s history with domestic violence goes much deeper than one incident, however, both the league and Brown’s team, the New York Giants, have been forced to reconsider their positions.
https://twitter.com/_Zeets/status/789215505592770560
So, the Giants haven’t decided to completely cut ties with Brown, but they are going to put him on ice until they presumably gauge how quickly the outrage will die down after a week away from the team. The most galling detail is their line that they “remain supportive” of Brown, despite learning of his history of abuse, that by his own admission he had been committing on various women since the age of 8.
That “hide her away” moment happened at the Pro Bowl this past January, when Brown’s wife took her kids to Hawaii to see Brown play but did not stay in the same room with him. Via NJ.com:
[Brown’s ex-wife] alleged to [King County detective] Ostrum that Brown showed up at her hotel room drunk and began pounding the door, demanding to be let in. Brown’s wife told Ostrum she called the league and hotel security, and that the NFL moved her and the children to a new hotel where their location was unknown to Brown.
That’s not just an alleged incident anymore, because Giants owner John Mara went on WFAN radio to discuss the kicker and confirmed the incident took place.
Giants owner John Mara admits he knew NFL Security had to intervene to protect Josh Brown's wife from him at the Pro Bowl hotel. Wow.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) October 20, 2016
John Mara said Josh Brown "has attempted to be honest with us". Said his journal entries were "brutally honest, but obviously disturbing."
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) October 20, 2016
At this point, any claims that the NFL and the Giants have made regarding “gathering information” has been resoundingly proven false. Both organizations were first-hand witnesses to Brown threatening his ex-wife before this season began, and both have been perfectly content to allow him to continue to ply his trade in the NFL. That the Giants even now refuse to simply cut Brown and move on — remaining supportive — shows just how far teams will go to protect players that are valuable assets on the football field.
Let’s allow ESPN’s Jemele Hill to put this in perspective for us, if only because we really, truly need to listen to and trust women more on this subject:
Thank you John Mara for letting women know there is an acceptable amount of physical violence we can suffer before it's taken seriously.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 20, 2016
