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Former NFL kicker Josh Brown admitted publicly to domestic violence for the first time during an interview with "Good Morning America" on Thursday, but disputed his ex-wife's claims that he hit her. Brown also expressed his desire to return to the NFL. The 37-year-old was cut by the New York Giants on Oct. 25 after admitting the abuse to the team.
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"What I did was wrong. Period," Brown told ABC News' Paula Faris. "Domestic violence is not just physical abuse. We're talking intimidation and threats, the attempt to control, body language. An abuser is going to abuse to a certain degree to acquire some kind of a reaction."
The kicker, however, insisted that that he never hit his ex-wife, Molly Brown, who said she was physically abused more than 20 times.
"I mean I had put my hands on her," Brown said. "I kicked the chair. I held her down. The holding down was the worst moment in our marriage. I never hit her. I never slapped her. I never choked her. I never did those types of things."
Documents were released in October related to Brown's arrest on domestic violence charges in Woodinville, Wash. The letters, emails and journals contained admissions by Brown that he had physically, verbally and emotionally abused his wife.
Brown said on Thursday that "these were the things that you say to yourself and then you'd burn them. ... And I didn't."
The kicker was initially suspended for one game because of the May 2015 incident with Molly Brown. He played in New York's next five contests but didn't travel with the team to London for a game after the documents were released.
The Giants signed Brown to a two-year, $4 million deal in April despite knowing he was under investigation for domestic abuse. Brown was arrested on May 22, 2015 for domestic assault in the fourth degree, although charges were never filed.
"I want to be able to play again. I want to be able to continue to write this story, continue to be a voice for change," Brown said on Thursday.
