NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is once again under fire today in the wake of shocking revelations about New York Giants placekicker Josh Brown.
Back in August, Brown was suspended for one game for violating the league’s conduct policy.
Shortly after news of the suspension went public, Brown confirmed that the punishment was tied to his May 22 arrest on domestic assault charges.
Though the charges were dropped, new allegations about Brown’s abusive past have emerged, and Goodell is no doubt having flashbacks to 2014, when he suspended Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for a scant two games for knocking his wife unconscious at an Atlantic City casino.
When footage of the incident was released online, Goodell admitted that the original penalty was woefully inadequate.
Rice was released by the Ravens and hasn’t played an NFL game since.
In Brown’s case, the new evidence isn’t quite as appalling as video of a woman being knocked unconscious, but it serves as a reminder that the NFL’s top brass have a poor understanding of the devastating consequences of spousal abuse.
Shockingly, the May arrest was not the first time that Brown was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting his wife.
Brown was arrested twice in 2015, and on one of those occasions, a number of personal documents, including his personal journal, were seized by police.
Now, passages from the journal that contain some dark confessions from Brown have been published by several media outlets:
“I have been a liar for most of my life … I made selfish decisions to use and abuse women starting at the age of 7 to fill this void,” Brown wrote in one entry.
“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.”
He continued:
“Because I never handled these underlying issues I became an abuser and hurt [my ex-wife] physically, emotionally and verbally. I viewed myself as God basically and she was my slave.”
In a different entry, Brown opened up about his addiction to pornography, writing:
“I viewed pornography on a consistent basis to manage my desire for physical contact.”
There’s no word yet on whether the revelations contained in Brown’s journal will result in any further disciplinary action from the league or his team.
At this time, Brown is expected to play in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.