NFL increases Brown’s suspension by six more games
The National Football League has suspended Josh Brown, a free-agent kicker, for six more games after spending nearly a year evaluating additional evidence related to charges of domestic violence.
Brown, who played 14 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants, was suspended for one game last year after he admitted to the Giants he had abused his wife.
But, when the police in Washington state released documents last October that showed Brown wrote about being “physically, verbally and emotionally” abusive to his wife, the Giants released him and the NFL suspended him indefinitely with pay.
Since then, the league has reviewed the documents and interviewed Brown again. That led to the decision to suspend him for six more games, which was first reported by ESPN and confirmed by a league official.
The suspension will have no bearing on any teams because Brown, 38, is not in the NFL at this time. The move comes as the league tries to fend off legal challenges to its decision to suspend Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott for six games without pay for his behaviour during a six-day stretch in July 2016. His ex-girlfriend said he beat her five times during that period. Elliott was not charged, and he and the NFL Players Association have appealed the suspension.
On Tuesday, a league-appointed arbitrator upheld the penalty, but Elliott will play Sunday when the Cowboys face the Giants because the ruling occurred too late in the week.
The players association has asked a federal judge in Texas to overturn the suspension.
The judge is expected to issue a ruling by the end of business Friday.
The NFL, meanwhile, has asked a federal judge in New York to uphold the suspension.
The league said New York is the proper venue to hear such cases because the league has its headquarters there.