The NFL’s claim on Thursday that they did not have all the information available to them in the Josh Brown case is starting to look shakier.
Brown was arrested in May, 2015 for allegedly committing domestic violence against his now ex-wife, Molly. Charges were dropped five days later. But the King County Sheriff’s Office started investigating the case more carefully and put together a file of information that shows Brown admitted to beating his wife multiple times. News of that file of information was made public on Wednesday, leading many to question why the league and New York Giants only suspended Brown for one game this season.
The league said in a statement that the information from the file, which included proof from email letters, personal journals and counseling sessions that Brown admitted to beating his wife, was not available to them at the time of their suspension decision. But many are starting to challenge that claim given additional information.
SNY reported Thursday that the NFL knew about an incident between Josh and Molly at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii earlier this year. In fact, they say the NFL helped Molly switch hotel rooms after she called security about an allegedly “drunk” Josh was pounding on her door.
And then there is this answer to a question about Josh Brown by Giants owner John Mara in August, which suggests the Giants knew about a letter in which Brown admitted to beating his wife. Mara said the team knew of all the facts and felt comfortable re-signing the kicker.
Relevant question and answer from John Mara presser on August 24. pic.twitter.com/bIeUCuxMOR
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) October 20, 2016
Between those two details, it’s starting to look more and more to the outside world like another example of the Ray Rice situation. What happened there, you may recall, is that Rice initially got a light suspension for domestic violence against his wife. It wasn’t until public pressure after video evidence of the punch was released that the league doled out a much harsher penalty.
In this situation, the NFL says they did not have access to all the information, yet now we’re seeing that a letter of admission was available in August, and that the league knew of an incident at the Pro Bowl too. Yet they only decided to suspend Brown for one game.
The NFL and Giants reportedly are considering an indefinite suspension of Brown.
