Josh Brown Won't Play vs. Rams Following Admission of Domestic Abuse

The New York Giants announced Thursday that kicker Josh Brown will not join the team in London for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams.

The decision came a day after SNY's Ralph Vacchiano shared journal accounts and emails in which Brown detailed his history of abuse toward his wife.

"The Giants do not condone or excuse any form of domestic violence," the team's statement read. "Josh has acknowledged that he has issues in his life and has been working on these issues through therapy and counseling for a long period of time."

"We felt the best course of action was to make Josh inactive for this game," Giants co-owner John Mara said, according to The MMQB's Albert Breer.

"I'm certainly disturbed by what I've read," Mara said, per Kimberly Jones of NFL Network. "He's admitted he's abused his wife in the past."

"It was a tough conversation with Josh," Giants head coach Bob McAdoo said, per Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. "We're not going to turn our back on Josh."

Brown was arrested in May 2015 on a charge of domestic violence that was subsequently dropped. On Aug. 19, the New York Daily News' Seth Walder reported that Brown's wife told police at the time that Brown had been abusive toward her more than 20 times, beginning when she was pregnant in 2009.

The NFL suspended Brown for one game—a decision that was met with heavy criticism. In 2014, the league amended its personal conduct policy to make domestic violence punishable with a six-game suspension on the first offense.

Vacchiano shed light on how serious Brown's pattern of abuse has been:

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In one of the documents, which was apparently signed by both Molly and Josh and called a "Contract for Change" and dated March 28, 2013—more than two years before Josh was arrested—Josh makes it clear exactly how he abused Molly. There are eight items listed in the signed contract, including "I have physically, verbally and emotionally abused my wife Molly," "I have controlled her by making her feel less human than me, and manipulated her with money" and "I have disregarded my step sons' feelings and they have witnessed me abusing their mother."

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On Thursday, Mara also said he was aware that NFL security had to protect Brown's wife when the couple was in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl in January, according to Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith.

Breer shared details of the incident:

USA Today's Tom Pelissero reported Thursday that the NFL is considering placing Brown on the commissioner's exempt list until it determines a suitable punishment for the 37-year-old. Pelissero speculated that an announcement "could happen as soon as next week."