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New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo continued to show support for Josh Brown even after the embattled kicker admitted to years of abusive behavior toward his ex-wife in newly released police documents. New information was released by the state of Washington earlier this week, prompting the Giants to announce Thursday that Brown would not travel with the team for Sunday's game in London against the Los Angeles Rams.
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"It was a tough conversation with Josh," McAdoo told reporters at Friday's tense press conference in London. "We're not going to turn our back on Josh. He's our teammate."
McAdoo repeatedly said the team was still gathering information about the allegations.
"We're looking to get as much information as we can to make an informed decision," McAdoo said, adding: "Everything's concerning."
The NFL announced Thursday that the league will re-open its investigation of Brown and would review the newly released documents.
The Giants signed former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould to replace Brown for the London game.
"We're not worried about the distractions," McAdoo said Friday. "We're not worried about the outside noise. We need to focus on each other and winning the football game."
Giants co-owner John Mara said Thursday in a radio interview that the Giants are considering placing Brown on the commissioner's exempt list. Mara also said the Giants won't wait for the NFL to make a decision.
"(Brown) admitted to us he'd abused his wife in the past," Mara said on WFAN. "What's a little unclear is the extent of that."
Brown admitted to domestic violence in letters, emails and a journal, according to police documents released by the King County (Wash.) Sheriff's Department on Wednesday.
"I have abused by wife," Brown wrote in one of his journal entries obtained as part of the investigation stemming from his arrest on May 22, 2015.
The documents were part of the final case file by King County Sheriff's Office for Brown, who was charged with assault in the fourth degree/domestic violence after an incident with his ex-wife.
Brown's ex-wife told police that he had been physically violent with her on more than 20 instances over the past several years.
In a 2013 "Contract for Change," signed by Brown, his then-wife Molly Brown and counselor Jerry Price, the kicker admitted that he had physically, verbally and emotionally abused his then-wife.
"I have been a liar for most of my life," Brown wrote in one journal entry, according to the police documents released Wednesday. "I made selfish decisions to use and abuse women starting at the age of 7 to fill this void. I objectified women and never really worried about the pain and hurt I caused them. My ability to connect emotionally to other people was zero. My empathy levels were zero.
"Because I never handled these underlying issues I became an abuser and hurt Molly physically, emotionally and verbally. I viewed myself as God basically and she was my slave."
The NFL initially suspended the kicker just one game for the 2015 incident -- Brown was arrested for allegedly grabbing the wrist of his now ex-wife in a heated dispute at a home the couple shared in Woodinville, Wash. -- because of "insufficient information to corroborate prior allegations."
The Giants then signed the 37-year-old Brown to a two-year, $4 million extension this offseason.
A Washington state sheriff criticized the NFL after the league made a statement about how his department handled information requests.
King County sheriff John Urquhart told Seattle radio station KIRO that an investigator never made it clear that he was representing the NFL and never identified himself when asking about the Brown case.
"'NFL, National Football League,' he could have (said) any of that," Urquhart said. "Robert Agnew, Comcast.net, post office box in Woodinville. We had no idea who this yokel is.
"I would have said exactly the same thing, 'We cannot release the case file.' But since this is a hot-button item in the NFL, since it's the NFL, we probably would have told them orally a little bit more about what we had. I don't like to get pushed around by a bully."
NFL senior vice president of communications Natalie Ravitz wrote on Twitter that the NFL did, in fact, make it clear to police that the league was seeking information on Brown's domestic violence case.
Ravitz said the NFL submitted a public records request on May 26, 2015, and also said four different individuals working for the NFL contacted police.
"It was clear we were looking for info for months," Ravitz wrote.
The NFL's domestic violence policy has a six-game baseline for first offenses, but allows for different lengths of punishment should mitigating circumstances allow.
