National Post (National Edition)
NFL criticized for reverting to old view of domestic violence
WA SHI NGTON • Last week, New York Giants kicker Josh Brown was suspended for one game by the NFL for an alleged domestic violence incident involving his thenwife in 2015. The suspension for violating the personal conduct policy was somewhat surprising, given the league’s struggle two years ago to find consistent means for punishing players accused of domestic incidents.
Bleacher Report’s Mike Tanier ripped the suspension, writing that “the NFL reset its domestic violence awareness to pre-Ray Rice levels.”
After the fallout from the explosive Rice case of 2014, the NFL instituted a new personal conduct policy on domestic issues, one that allows the NFL to discipline players who are not convicted, judging each case on the merits. In Brown’s case, one game was deemed sufficient by the league for an alleged incident — a fourth-degree misdemeanour — that resulted in no charges and provided no co-operation from the alleged victim or law-enforcement authorities.
Brown, who is entering his fourth season with the Giants, was arrested by the police in Washington state over allegations involving his then-wife in May 2015. Although the charge was quickly dropped, she alleged that Brown had been physically violent on a number of occasions. The NFL conducted a 10-month investigation, but noted that the absence of criminal charges and co-operation by the alleged victim and law-enforcement officials in finding “insufficient information to corroborate prior allegations.”
When the NFL handed down its suspension, Brown’s appeal was denied and he said he would accept it.
“It’s not something that you want and like I said, my main concern is my kids,” Brown said last week. “That’s the last thing you ever want to be on the Internet, that they would read or their friends would read and the way that they would be approached at school and how they’re looked upon. Is it good? No, it’s not.”
The New York Daily News obtained police reports that showed 911 recordings on consecutive days and a lengthy statement from Brown’s then-wife to a detective and court official detailing 20 incidents. The statement the Daily News obtained alleged that Brown had pushed his wife into a door when she was pregnant and once shoved her into a mirror.
But the NFL, in announcing the suspension, stated: “Our investigators had insufficient information to corroborate prior findings. The NFL therefore made a decision based on the evidentiary findings around this one incident (Brown’s arrest) as provided to us by the District Attorney.”
The Giants are seeking to move on.
“Nothing has been talked about. It is what it is. I think he’s suspended one game,” Brown’s teammate Jason Pierre-Paul said Monday (via NJ.com). “It doesn’t matter, we’re all family around here.”