Déjà vu: The NFL Drops the Ball Again

by | Oct 27, 2016 | Uncategorized |

It finally happened: Josh Brown was released from the New York Giants roster. As many predicted, the team cut ties with their Pro-Bowl kicker after documents surfaced of him admitting to abusing his then-wife, Molly Brown. This week’s MMQB article examines the twisted relationship between the Giants, NFL and Brown.

The script here is nearly identical to the Ray Rice case two seasons ago. This time around, the spotlight is shining a little brighter on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. After admitting that he mishandled Rice’s discipline, the public was expecting a more thorough inquiry and harsher punishment when it came to Brown. What they got was another faulty investigation and light suspension.

 

After the Rice incident, the NFL vowed to significantly improve their handling of domestic violence cases. They made several new hires, implemented a new conduct policy (see: minimum six-game suspension), added new security and investigative officers to their team and, most notably, kept Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson off the field amid domestic abuse allegations. Despite all of these changes, the NFL’s investigation into Brown fell flat.

Once again, the NFL and player’s team (the Giants, in this case), weren’t going to apply any further discipline until new evidence was released and there was public outcry to do so. It is expected that the NFLPA will appeal Brown’s termination, as they did with Rice, citing “Double Jeopardy.” Precedence is in their favor – Rice settled with the Ravens for what is rumored to be a number that has a lot of zeroes tacked on to the end of it. That being said, this time around is a little different. There have been several NFL players who have publicly condemned Brown’s actions and the NFL’s botched response, which certainly has the possibility to affect how the NFLPA handles the case moving forward.


Jane McManus, reporter for ESPN W, joined me on this week’s podcast to give her perspective on the NFL’s most recent scandal. Her take is similar to mine: How did the NFL let this happen again?

The NFL has indicated that they were unable to continue an investigation because Molly Brown, Josh’s ex-wife, was unwilling to be interviewed. As McManus notes, this excuse is flimsy at best. There are a plethora of reasons as to why a victim of domestic abuse wouldn’t grant to an interview, including not wanting to relive traumatic instances or fear of retaliation from their abuser. For our full conversation on Josh Brown, Molly Brown and the Giants, listen to the full podcast below.

For now, Josh Brown has been stripped of his Giants uniform and will likely never see his name on an NFL roster again and we now look to the NFL to reaffirm their commitment to fighting domestic violence.