John Mara: Giants comfortable with decision to re-sign K Josh Brown
New York Giants owner John Mara addressed the media about Josh Brown for the first time on Wednesday, saying that he does not plan to cut the kicker in response to his alleged history of domestic violence.
Mara spoke extensively about the situation after news of Brown's alleged history of abuse surfaced last week when he was suspended for one game by the NFL.
Brown was arrested on a domestic violence charge in May 2015, but the charges were later dropped. Mara said the Giants knew about Brown’s situation when they decided to re-sign him in 2015, according to the New York Daily News.
"When we made the decision to re-sign Josh back in 2015, we were certainly aware of the arrest. We were also aware of the allegations associated with that arrest, and the fact that the charges were dropped within a couple days after the arrest.
“Based on the facts and circumstances that we were aware of at that time, we were comfortable with our decision to re-sign him. Nothing has happened in the meantime to make us question that decision. This is an issue, domestic violence, that we take very seriously here. Everybody in this building — players, employees alike — go through a training program on issues like domestic violence and sexual abuse and DUI.
“We have worked very closely for many many years, long before this became a hot-button topic … and this is an issue that is very personal to a lot of us. In this particular case, as an employer, it's a complicated and emotional issue, and you have to make decisions based on the facts and circumstances that are presented.
“When we made this decision, we knew that the NFL was going to conduct its own investigation. We had no idea how long that was gonna take. Obviously it's resulted in Josh being handed a one-game suspension. We accept that decision, we support it and we move on.”
Mara also said the team has known that Brown has been undergoing counseling for “a couple of years.”
Brown’s ex-wife, Molly Brown, has said that the kicker was physically violent towards her 20 times.
