What Brown Can’t Do For These New York Giants

The one-game suspension handed down by the NFL to New York Giants’ kicker Josh Brown surprised most everyone who follows Big Blue. In a statement issued by the team on Aug. 17, 2016,  the league said, “Josh Brown of the New York Giants has been suspended without pay for the first game of the 2016 regular season for violating the NFL Personal Conduct Policy.”

Words do not get any more bland than that, unless you take into account head coach Ben McAdoo’s response to the events.

More of concern to Giants’ fans should be the response of Brown, especially in light of the details of what likely caused the suspension as reported by the New York Post on Aug. 18, 2016.

What Did Brown Do?

“According to the police report, Brown grabbed the victim’s wrist while she was picking up a phone, causing “redness” and a small cut on the wrist. The victim called 911 and alleged an assault. Brown was booked into the county jail and released on $2,000 bond.”

Curiously, Josh Brown is now divorced from Molly Brown; the only victim in this case. Usually where there is smoke, there is fire, so should any of these events surprise us?

In fact, Brown’s response was to double-down on the big, bad NFL.

As for the ongoing debate among players about commissioner Roger Goodell’s broad powers in these matters, Brown said “I’m uncomfortable with it,” adding, “I just want to kick field goals,” according to Paul Schwartz.

And I’m sure that all Johnny Manziel wants to do it throw touchdowns.

Brown’s Usage of NFLPA Playbook

In today’s world, there’s always a scapegoat, someone to blame when the resister cannot look directly into a mirror. Whether it’s simply a rote reaction, or something more formally adopted by the NFL Players’ Association, the boogie man always seems to be Roger Goodell.

And when you’ve screwed up as much as Goodell has, well then, that type of reaction can be expected. So Josh Brown decided to go there.

Shame on him.

Maybe Brown forgets that Goodell was lambasted for being too lenient on Ray Rice after he punched his fiancé, Janay, into submission in an Atlantic City casino. Or maybe Brown thinks we all forgot.

According to Brown, “While I do not agree with the suspension, I will accept it. I have exhausted the appeals process and have no other options along those lines. I will continue to work hard for this team, and I have tremendous confidence in my teammates and in my ability to move on and contribute to the team.”

What Did Brown Learn?

Good for you, Josh, you simply ran out of options. As for how Brown will spend his unwelcome week off, well get out your hankies.

“I’m going to spend it with my daughter,” Brown said. “I’m going to go home and take her to school and be a dad and do the things that I need to do, that I get the opportunity to do because of this. Take that as an opportunity I’ve never had as a player, to take my daughter to school on the first day. I’m looking forward to that, and I’ll continue to be kicking and working and preparing. Nothing as far as preparation will change for me.”

Well, good for him that he won’t allow this to take away from his potential father-of-the-year candidacy. Brown the kicker is thankfully much more accurate than Brown the man. The more he talked, the more he endangered his golden right foot by firmly putting it directly into his mouth.

“It’s not something that you want, and like I said, my main concern is my kids,” Brown said. “That’s the last thing you ever want to be on the internet, that they would read or their friends would read and the way that they would be approached at school and how they’re looked upon. Is it good? No, it’s not.”

So let’s get this straight, your kids finding out the truth about their father is not good? Maybe the lesson could have been that Dad made a mistake, but he takes responsibility for it. Not once, did Brown deny that the events happened, and not once did he acknowledge that he should do better as a person.

Let’s All Blame Goodell

But all of this mess is Roger Goodell’s fault.

The Personal Conduct Policy does not require a broken legal system to provide justice, and that’s its beauty. In this case, the policy was clearly appropriate. Despite Brown’s protestations to the contrary, he deserved every bit of this suspension, if not a two-game ban.

Normally, I might have some sympathy for Brown, none of us would want to be judged on our worst day. Unfortunately, I found his response to the events nauseating to be frank. And realistically, the Goodell as antagonist theme wears a little thin these days.

But that’s the world we live in today with Olympic swimmers acting the fool in foreign countries on our dime, and presidential candidates (plural) who would rather cut off a limb than tell the truth.

As for me, I am rooting hard for Tom Obarski on Saturday, and perhaps that will be the good that comes from another jaded day in the teflon world of the NFL. The ongoing Victor Cruz saga has put additional stress on the Giants’ roster choices; having to keep two kickers out of training camp makes that situation worse.