NFL Suspends Ex-Giants Kicker Josh Brown For Six More Games

The NFL has suspended former New York Giants kicker Josh Brown another six games for domestic violence allegations, the league announced Friday morning.

Josh Brown Suspension News

Brown, 38, served a one-game ban at the beginning of the 2016 season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, and he accepted the longer suspension without appealing it following further NFL investigation.

The decision comes on the same day second-year Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is waiting for a U.S. District Court judge in Texas to rule on whether or not he will be granted a temporary restraining order that would permit him to continue playing this season. Elliott, 22, received his own six-game suspension on Aug. 11 following domestic violence accusations from his ex-girlfriend. However, NFL arbitrator Harold Henderson ruled earlier this week that Elliott can play against the Giants in both team’s regular-season opener in Arlington on Sunday night.

“Timing has nothing to do with Zeke and made no sense to hold this until Zeke was complete,” the NFL told ESPN in a text message.

Although Brown — who joined the NFL in 2003 — remains unsigned after the Giants released him in October, he will start serving the six-game suspension immediately, beginning this week, according to ESPN.

Brown told “Good Morning America” in February that he never struck Molly Brown, who is now his ex-wife.

“I mean, I had put my hands on her. I kicked the chair. I held her down. The holding down was the worst moment in our marriage,” Brown said during an interview with ABC News’ Paula Faris. “I never hit her. I never slapped her. I never choked her. I never did those types of things.”

The former Giants kicker was arrested in May 2015 in Woodinville, Washington on suspicion of fourth-degree domestic assault. However, Brown was never charged. In October 2016, documents pertaining to Brown’s arrest were disclosed. Among them were letters and journals in which he confessed to physically, verbally and emotionally abusing his wife. The Giants released Brown on Oct. 25, 2016.

Brown was coming off the best season of his career in 2015, when he made 94 percent of his kicks. The Giants — who acquired the kicker in 2013 — signed him to a two-year, $4 million extension in April 2016 despite being aware he was under investigation for domestic violence.

Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk wrote, “One of the recent criticisms of the NFL during its recent Elliott investigation/suspension was a lack of consistency, after the Cowboys running back got a six-game punishment the year after Giants kicker Brown got one. The NFL has taken a retroactive step to remedy that.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – AUGUST 12: Kicker Josh Brown #3 of the New York Giants kicks a field goal as Brad Wing #9 holds against the Miami Dolphins during the first half of an NFL preseason game at MetLife Stadium on August 12, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Dolphins defeated the Giants 27-10. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)