Josh Brown domestic violence situation proves NFL, Giants have learned nothing

The NFL finds itself in another pathetic situation with regard to the issue of domestic violence. New York Giants kicker Josh Brown served a one-game suspension this season after being arrested in May 2015 for domestic violence. The charges were eventually dropped, but they came amidst allegations from his now ex-wife of numerous instances of domestic violence.

More and more is now coming out that shows how messed up this situation is, both in terms of the team not doing something earlier, and the team still keeping him around. Documents released this week indicate Brown admitted to physically and emotionally abusing his ex-wife. The NFL claimed they did not see those documents when they decided to give Brown a one-game suspension instead of what is supposed to be a standard six-game suspension for a first offensive of the changed DV policy.

In making the decision, the NFL talked about how no charges were filed as a reason for reducing the suspension. The problem with that is the NFL does not have to wait for a court of law to make a determination, and they should be smart enough to realize that so many instances of domestic violence do not result in charges or convictions.

And now, the Giants are making things even worse. They announced that Brown would not travel with the team to London, and there are reports he will be placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list while this is re-investigated. Owner John Mara conducted an interview before the team departed for London, and I’m pretty sure it could not have gone much worse.

Here are a few highlights, and it leaves me baffled that this organization had the temerity to say in January they have a zero tolerance policy for domestic violence. It’s insane how badly the Giants and the NFL have handled this.