Remember when the NFL suspended New York Giants kicker Josh Brown for the first week of the season and we all thought, “Hmmm, that doesn’t seem like much of a punishment for a domestic abuse situation” and the NFL was all like, “Hey, based on what we know this punishment was fine” and we were all, “This seems off so you better be right.”
If you’d like a more specific, real quote from the time of that suspension, here’s one from the Daily News:
“A lot of times there’s a tendency to try to make these cases black and white,” Giants co-owner John Mara said in August. “They are very rarely black and white. You very rarely have a Ray Rice video. There are allegations made, you try to sort through the facts, you try to make an informed decision. That’s what we did.”
New information shows that decision was probably nowhere near as informed as it should have been.
In documents obtained by SNY from the Kings County Sheriff in Oregon, Brown kept a journal in which he referred to his wife as “a slave” and wrote, “I have physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally been a repulsive man. I have abused my wife.”
Some of the documents are from counseling sessions while others are e-mails from Brown sent to friends and his wife, Molly. One of the revelations is Brown admitting to being molested at the age of 6 and his abuse of women beginning at the age of 7.
“I have been a liar for most of my life,” he wrote. “I made selfish decisions to use and abuse women starting at the age of 7 to fill this void. I objectified women and never really worried about the pain and hurt I caused them. My ability to connect emotionally to other people was zero. My empathy levels were zero.
“Because I never handled these underlying issues I became an abuser and hurt Molly physically, emotionally and verbally. I viewed myself as God basically and she was my slave.”
In one of the documents, which was apparently signed by both Molly and Josh and called a “Contract for Change” and dated March 28, 2013 — more than two years before Josh was arrested — Josh makes it clear exactly how he abused Molly. There are eight items listed in the signed contract, including “I have physically, verbally and emotionally abused my wife Molly,” “I have controlled her by making her feel less human than me, and manipulated her with money” and “I have disregarded my step sons’ feelings and they have witnessed me abusing their mother.”
These statements are in direct contrast to Brown’s claim at the time of his suspension that his arrest was the result of a one-time incident and shows, yet again, when a woman claims there has been a systematic pattern of abuse, she’s not lying. It’s almost too easy to forget that a lot of people didn’t believe the Ray Rice story until the elevator video was released.
Now that these documents have been released, it will be interesting to see if the NFL suspends Brown for a lengthier period of time than one week. It will also be interesting to see how the Giants, who have been publicly saying Odell Beckham needs to grow up because he does prop comedy with a kicking net, react to the news. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Giants have a new kicker this Sunday or when they return from their bye next week.
(SNY, Daily News)
