Kicker Josh Brown has become just the latest example of a mishandled case by the NFL linked to domestic abuse. After being place don the commissioner’s exempt list and likely seeing his playing future put on ice, Brown has had to go into PR spin mode in an attempt curve his image amid controversy from his past.
Brown released a written statement in which he apologized for his past coming back to shed a negative light on the Giants and anyone who has lent him support over time. He also says he is taking measures to work on his behavior issues and claims to have never struck his wife. You can read his statement in full below.
“I am sorry that my past has called into question the character or integrity of The New York Giants, Mr. Mara or any of those who have supported me along the way. I have taken measures to get help so that I may be the voice of change, not a statistic. It is important to share that I never struck my wife, and never would. Abuse takes many forms, and is not a gray area. Through the past several years I have worked to identify and rectify my own behaviors. The road to rehabilitation is a journey and a constant modification of a way of life. My journey will continue forever as a person determined to leave a positive legacy and I embrace the opportunities to show and speak about what has helped me to be that man. In the interim, I am cooperating with the Giants and the NFL. Thank you to everyone that has supported me, I will not let you down.”
We can all probably agree that Brown seeking help to make important life changes for the better is a good thing, regardless of what has happened to this point. We can all wish him the best in making whatever changes he needs to make in his life in order to make himself and his family happy. And in the end, he can seek forgiveness from the select few directly impacted by his actions and they can choose to forgive or not forgive.
But the damage has already been done in the public eye for Brown, the Giants, and the NFL. He may not be able to recover as well there, even though we can be a forgiving community. Given how seriously we react to domestic violence today though, it will be a long, uphill road for Brown to successfully change the way he is viewed by the public no matter how many written statements he releases.
UPDATE: The Giants announced they have released Brown.
The #Giants have released Kicker Josh Brown pic.twitter.com/Arj2vQZdsM
— New York Giants (@Giants) October 25, 2016
