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Giants kicker Josh Brown issues statement: 'I never struck my wife'

Former New York Giants kicker Josh Brown, whom the NFL placed on the commissioner’s exempt list following the release of troubling documents that detailed an abusive relationship with his ex-wife, has issued a statement shortly before the Giants released him.

Brown tries to clear up the definition of abuse, claiming that he never actually hit his wife during the slew of incidents that were first reported and investigated back in 2015. Still, he admits to his role in his abuse of her and how he’s trying to rehabilitate himself.

His words, via ESPN’s Adam Schefter:

“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.”

It’s notable that he denies striking Molly Brown, but as he says “abuse takes many forms.” That is different than a straight-up denial, it would seem.

Kicker Josh Brown issued a statement about the domestic violence case involving him his ex-wife. (AP)
Kicker Josh Brown issued a statement about the domestic violence case involving him his ex-wife. (AP)

But it still rings a bit hollow — and the Giants appeared to not like the way Brown worded that part of the statement. The one the team released from Brown did not contain the part about striking his wife.

Brown was made inactive prior to their victory over the Los Angeles Rams in London on Sunday. The Giants are on bye this week but met with Brown on Tuesday, at which time it’s believe they informed him of his release. To take Brown’s place they signed Robbie Gould, who made a field goal in the win.

The NFL suspended Brown one game prior to the start of the 2016 season (despite the NFL saying it would suspend first-time offenders a minimum of six games in 2014), saying that it tried in vain to obtain the details of the King County (Wash.) investigation prior to that point. The county’s sheriff’s office has since said that the NFL’s efforts were shoddy at best. Many have come out, both publicly and privately, to blast the league for its hasty handling of the Brown case, rushing to suspend him before the telling documents in the case were released.

In them, Brown wrote the words “I have abused my wife” in documents the sheriff’s office made public, and further details show that Molly Brown told police in 2015 after her then-husband’s arrest that he had abused her on more than 20 occasions over the past several years.

The NFL has reopened the case, it says, and could adjust its discipline of him once it has completed a more thorough investigation, even though he’s not currently with a team. It’s not known if Brown’s own admission — either in the documents, or with this “abuse takes many former” statement — affected the Giants’ decision to release him or whether it could change the NFL’s view following its light suspension of him.

But there’s no doubting that public pressure led to Brown trying to explain his role in the case and the team moving on from the embattled kicker.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!