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Josh Brown: New York Giants need to cut ties with kicker now

There are many questions, but there should be no question about that

NFL: Preseason-New York Giants at New York Jets
Josh Brown
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

How can the New York Giants continue to allow Josh Brown to be part of their football team?

There are other questions in the wake of the new information that has come to light, reportedly from Brown’s own written admissions, about the depth and depravity of his abusive behavior toward women. That, however, is the primary one.

Here are some of the things Brown wrote in documents initially obtained by NJ Advance Media.

"I have been a liar for most of my life." ...

"I made selfish decisions to use and abuse women starting at the age of 7 ... I objectified women and never really worried about the pain and hurt I caused them.” ...

... I became an abuser and hurt [my wife] physically, emotionally and verbally. I viewed myself as God basically and she was my slave." ...

"I have physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally been a repulsive man. ... I have abused my wife."

All of that is repulsive to read. It’s despicable. Horrifying. Disgusting. Deplorable. Indefensible. Whatever ugly adjective you want to attach to it.

So, why is Josh Brown still making millions of dollars kicking a football through a par of uprights for the Giants?

Back in the summer when Brown was suspended by the NFL for one game following a May 22, 2015 arrest for a fourth-degree domestic violence charge, Giants ownership was initially silent.

John Mara hung rookie coach Ben McAdoo out to dry for a full week before finally telling reporters that the Giants were “comfortable” with their decision to re-sign Brown during the offseason.

Recall that Brown was a free agent and the Giants could have — and should have — avoided all of this and made a stand against domestic violence by simply signing a different kicker. Instead, they handed Brown a two-year, $4 million contract.

“When we made the decision to re-sign Josh back in (2016), we were certainly aware of the arrest. We were also aware of the allegations associated with that arrest and the fact that the charges were dropped within a couple of days after the arrest. Based on the facts and circumstances that we were aware of at that time, we were comfortable with our decision to re-sign him. Nothing has happened in the meantime to make us question that decision,” Mara said at the time.

Today, you have to wonder if Mara still feels that way. You also have to wonder, if he knew about Brown’s admitted history of behavior, how could he have possibly felt that way?

At the time of his suspension, Brown insisted that the charge stemmed from “just a moment.” We now know, from Brown’s own writings, that there have been 30 years worth of such moments.

Were the Giants aware of Brown’s writings? Of his admitted long history of abuse? The fact that there might be more charges forthcoming against Brown? How could the Giants, or the NFL, not have been aware? If they were aware, how could they have turned a blind eye?

You have to wonder why the NFL handed Brown a one-game suspension rather than the six-game suspension its own policy dictates. How could the NFL not have known, or at least had a pretty definitive idea, that there was more than a single incident involved?

Our concern here, though, is the Giants and why Brown is still part of the organization.

“We did do some due diligence on this. We had a number of conversations with a number of different people. Again, we are comfortable with the decision that we made,” Mara said back in August. “We had a lot of facts and circumstances that were presented to us, we looked at all those things. I think that this is an organization that always tries to do the right thing. I don’t know that we always get it done, but we try. We did our homework here, we got as many of the facts and circumstances in front of us as we could and we made a determination based on that.”

Now, the question is this: Will the Giants do the right thing, the thing they should have done initially, and boot Brown off the team? Or, will an organization that has always held itself up a class act and model for the rest of the league, do the wrong thing and remain silent?