The National Football League and domestic violence cases: two things that do not go hand in hand. The Josh Brown case only further shows how shameful the NFL is when it comes to things of this nature. There is so much that has happened in this sole case alone; so many things done and said wrong by people across the board. This particular revelation has risen to the surface for a few months now, but had previously gone on for an extended period of time. It’s only just now coming about because the league wanted to protect the Giants kicker, for God knows why. Here’s an overview of the situation:
Back in mid-August of this year, Josh Brown was suspended by the league for one game, due to the fact that he was arrested for a domestic violence charge against his wife. At the time, only one lone dispute between he and his wife were known. So, the suspension seemed reasonable. Brown and the Giants organization said what needed to be said blah blah blah. As the days went on, the case only became more and more disturbing.
A few days after Brown’s suspension was announced, his now ex-wife, Molly, told police that she had been physically abused on 20+ separate occasions. She told police that he had been violent towards her even while she was pregnant, dating back to 2009. The details are disturbing, as Molly spoke of the abuse she endured when she finally worked up the courage to seek help from police and friends. In summary, the guy needs to be in jail.
After all of this came out, the story kind of died down for a while. There was no new evidence, not much discussion, it was put under the rug, for the time being.
Just a few days ago, it all started to heat up again. This time, the NFL looks like a bunch of fools. To start, a handful of emails, journal entries, letters and phone calls surfaced on Wednesday, courtesy of the police, of Josh admitting to the abuse, that he did in fact beat his wife like nobody’s business for years. Brown said that he thought of himself as a “God” and his wife “a slave.” According to these quotes and documents, a few years back, NFL security had to actually move Molly and her children out to a hotel that “Josh wouldn’t know about” to protect them from him.
It would seem as if the NFL nor the Giants had any way to get to these documents and files, right? Nope. Diana Moskovitz of Deadspin reported that the league and the Giants had total access to these documents through Brown’s divorce file, but nobody made even an effort to obtain them. The Giants knew about everything all along, but both the organization and the league did their very best to protect Josh under all circumstances. Plus, NFL security had to literally take the family away from Josh because of how violent he was. Obviously the league was aware of this, but they still kept everything a secret. What a joke.
John Mara, Giants owner, and Ben McAdoo, Giants head coach, are still supporting Josh through all of this. McAdoo recently said, “We are not going to turn our back on Josh. He is a teammate. We are hoping this guy makes strides.” The team also has not made a decision whether or not to cut Brown or not, but seem oddly optimistic, despite the fact that Brown has been put on the league’s Exempt List. It’s highly unlikely that he gets a job in the NFL ever again, but he’s basically on a paid vacation right now, which is absurd.
Mara spoke on WFAN radio on Thursday, and his comments on the case are horrific. It’s like he’s trying to make himself and the franchise look bad.
Josh Brown admitted on multiple occasions on multiple different platforms that he abused his wife, and that he has issues. What about that is unclear? I’m failing to understand how any of this is unclear. Molly and Josh both made everything as clear as day. To still remain supporting him through this and play dumb is pathetic. Any person with a functioning brain could tell that what Josh did is inexcusable. And, it’s “too early to tell,” “still gathering information?” Please. This has been going on for years, you’ve had access to police and court documents, Giants players were aware of Josh’s actions, everything is right there in front of you.
I get that, despite the fact that Brown is guilty as hell, the team still has to look into things, sure. Things couldn’t be made more blatantly obvious, though. Those two quotes by Mara make him look so, so stupid. A toddler could recognize that the evidence that has been put forth is enough to get Brown out of a job. Yet, the team is playing dumb and supporting him through it all. Great look by New York, right?
Also, I can’t seem to understand why they’re clinging to Josh the way they are and for how long they have. The dude is a journeyman kicker, and isn’t even good. He’s an admitted wife beater. There’s zero logic towards keeping him and making him seem like a good guy. The man himself has told the world that he has issues and has had issues for a long time. The longer the Giants drag this out, the worse it’s going to get. Why they didn’t cut him long, long ago, I’ll never know.
The league itself look just as moronic. Ever since the Ray Rice case, Goodell has made several promises to take domestic violence more seriously, and the league has made it very clear through advertisements and such that they will not tolerate DV. Unfortunately for them, this plan has backfired on them. The NFL could have done anything and everything to get the guy out of a job and make it known how much of a monster he is, but no. They’ve continuously supported him and made sure that he wouldn’t get in too much trouble. Molly also declined to speak to NFL investigators, because they “would only be looking to bury this whole incident and protect Josh.” She was 100% correct.
I will never be able to fathom how little the league cares about domestic violence. They obviously care way, way more about end zone celebrations rather than habitual domestic violence. The hilarious part about this is, is that, as I’ve mentioned, the league has put it out there numerous times how they have “zero tolerance,” as they should. They have specific rules put in place, but continuously fail to follow those rules. To treat domestic violence the way that they do despite having rules put in place for situations like this is truly pathetic. You will not find something like this anywhere else.
In my lifetime, I can only hope that there will be change. I love football. I’m a girl. To see stuff like this happen as often as it does is disgusting. As big as the NFL is, you’d think they’d be a little smarter, a little more serious and not make fools of themselves on a regular basis. Josh Brown does not deserve a job in the NFL ever again, and everyone involved needs to come to that realization. Put relationships and/or friendships aside and understand that what he did was nowhere near acceptable. It isn’t rocket science, but the National Football League sure does make this look like rocket science.
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