Would things have been different if there were a video?
Would the NFL or the New York Giants have taken stronger action if they had seen what kicker Josh Brown has admitted to doing?
Would the suspension have been more than one game — for violating the league’s personal conduct policy — had Brown’s actions been reviewable in the public domain?
Of course.
But that doesn't let the NFL or the Giants off the hook.
The NFL and the New York Giants have don't have an excuse for letting Brown play five games this season — not after he was arrested on a charge of domestic violence in 2015; not after his now ex-wife said that he had physically abused her “more than 20 different times over the last several years.”
These were not fly-by-night accusations. Molly Brown told police, in detail, that her then-husband pushed her into a door while she was pregnant, threw her into a large mirror in the bedroom and then pinned her to the floor while he pushed her face into the carpet, and that he threatened her and her children at the 2016 Pro Bowl, forcing the NFL to move them.
On Wednesday, police documents stemming from that 2015 arrest were obtained by several news organizations. They include journal entries and emails written by Brown that admit to being "physically, emotionally and verbally” abusive to his “slave” wife.
Now that those documents are out, the NFL is taking another look at Brown’s case. The Giants have opted to leave him in New York while the team travels to London for its game Sunday. But Brown is still on the New York roster and the team will “revisit this issue following our trip.”
What is there to revisit?
The fact that the Giants didn’t release him instantaneously upon finding out that Brown had lied to them — he had said at the time of his suspension in August that the 2015 arrest was “just a moment” — shows that the league, as a whole, has learned little from the collective mishandling of the Ray Rice incident in 2014.
The league sent out a release Thursday saying that it was stonewalled by the King County (Washington) Sheriff’s Department in obtaining the proper information for its investigation into the 2015 arrest.
Did the NFL or the Giants not do what the New York Daily News did and read the police reports and detective interviews with Molly Brown? Those reports were not sealed at the time of suspension.
Or did they learn about how Molly Brown called 911 an estimated 10 times — those tapes are accessible to anyone — in the build-up to the arrest?
Or did they just not care?
Did the NFL’s investigation unit — the left hand — talk to the NFL’s security team — the right hand — about how the kicker, who invited Molly and her children to the Pro Bowl while agreeing to stay in a separate room, allegedly pounded on their door, clearly drunk, demanding to be let in? NFL and hotel security, recognizing the gravity of the situation, reportedly moved Molly and her children to a different room — Molly said a different hotel, the NFL differs with that assessment. The point remains: They had to be moved for their safety.
That incident seems like it would have been useful to the NFL’s investigation.
The NFL is bound by a collective bargaining agreement, which has clear guidelines for player discipline, though commissioner Roger Goodell has proven that he will expand his powers to punish those he’s determined to have hurt the league’s brand. Adrian Peterson’s child abuse charge in 2014 netted the star running back a 15-game stay on the commissioner's exempt list; Tom Brady’s decision to not hand over his cell phone to the league as part of the Deflategate investigation netted him a four-game suspension (that’s the only rational argument, at least); but Brown received a one-game suspension despite the league’s personal-conduct policy stating that all first-offense violations involving "assault, battery, domestic violence, dating violence, child abuse and other forms of family violence, or sexual assault involving physical force or committed against someone incapable of giving consent” should result in a six-game suspension.
Brown clearly fits the bill. So how does a six-game minimum turn into a one-game suspension?
Again, ignorance is not an excuse for the league, or the Giants, who re-signed Brown to a two-year, $4 million deal in April.
Said Giants co-owner John Mara in August, after the one-game suspension was handed down by the NFL:
“We were certainly aware at the time that there were allegations of numerous incidents. Based, again, on the facts and circumstances that we are aware of, we were comfortable with our decision to sign him. … We did do some due diligence on this. We had a number of conversations with a number of different people. Again, we are comfortable with the decision that we made.”
Did they talk to Molly Brown or NFL security? Did they do any due diligence with the King County Sheriff’s Department? Or did they hear Brown’s explanation that it was a one-time thing and decide that was good enough for them and their "model franchise"?
Will they make the same decision — Brown can be a member of our team — now that more damning information has come to the forefront? Well, he hasn't been cut yet.
"I have been a liar for most of my life," Brown wrote in a journal entry made public Wednesday. "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. ... 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."
Those are the true thoughts of a man the NFL let off easy and the Giants opted to re-sign and stand behind — a player they’re still standing behind.
The Giants said they “did their homework.” They failed the assignment — miserably.
Photo below is excerpted from Josh Brown's alleged journal. More here: https://t.co/y91wBw6uBY pic.twitter.com/aU1j78XIfS
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) October 20, 2016
