Giants’ Josh Brown has support of teammates
Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul reacts as the defense wins a drill against the offense during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, NJ, on Tuesday, Aug 9, 2016. Credit: Brad Penner
Jason Pierre-Paul said the accusation of numerous acts of domestic violence made against Giants kicker Josh Brown by his now former wife in a 2015 police report “doesn’t matter” and that he and his teammates “look past” those allegations.
“We’re all family around here,” Pierre-Paul said. “People have their own problems to handle. He’s still our brother and we look past it. We’re going to need him. Every player, we’re going to need them.’’
Brown was arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault/DV in May 2015 after allegedly grabbing the wrist of his then-wife, Molly, during an argument in their home in the state of Washington. The charges were dropped by the district attorney five days later, but Molly Brown outlined 20 previous incidents of threatening or abusive behavior by Brown to police. Those allegations are included in a case file obtained by Newsday from the King County sheriff’s office.
Brown was suspended one game by the NFL for violating the personal-conduct policy. The league said it found “insufficient information to corroborate prior allegations” of domestic abuse by Brown and added that Molly Brown declined to cooperate during the NFL’s 10-month investigation.
While many players and executives have remained silent — including John Mara and Jerry Reese, who declined to comment Saturday — a few players spoke about the situation for the first time Monday.
“Obviously, it’s a sad situation what he’s going through,” Justin Pugh said. “Obviously, you have to be there for your teammate. I don’t want to get too into it because I don’t know all the details . . . but all we can do is support our teammate and make sure we’re there for him. It’s definitely a tough situation.”
Football-wise, the Giants made a roster move to replace Brown for at least the one game he will sit out. They had hoped first-year kicker Tom Obarski would get them through the opener in Dallas on Sept. 11, but he missed a 27-yard field-goal attempt in Buffalo on Saturday. The Giants signed Randy Bullock on Monday and released Obarski. Bullock, 26, has made 75 of 93 field-goal attempts for the Texans and Jets. Last season he replaced Nick Folk with the Jets for eight games and was 14-for-17 on field-goal attempts and 19-for-20 on extra points.
Bullock has four accrued seasons in the NFL (he has played three and was on injured reserve as a rookie in 2012), so if he is on the Giants’ opening-day roster, he can elect to have his base salary for 2016 guaranteed. Vested veterans — those with four or more years in the league — are allowed to collect that full year of paychecks just once in their careers. It’s unclear if the Giants are “renting” Bullock or hope he can compete with Brown through the rest of the preseason and potentially win the job outright. Brown, 37 and a veteran of 13 NFL seasons, is coming off a Pro Bowl year and signed a two-year contract to return to the Giants during the offseason.
Pierre-Paul said he has not spoken directly with Brown about the allegations against him or his suspension. “You know me,” he said. “At the end of the day, every guy on this team has a situation, you know what I’m saying? I don’t like people knowing my business and my situation, so I try to keep out of [other] people’s situations unless they come to me and ask for help.”
Pierre-Paul said he believes Brown deserves to remain on the team. “Why should he be cut?” he asked. “Every guy needs a chance.”
Even a guy who has been accused of nearly two dozen incidents?
“Who knows?” Pierre-Paul said. “You weren’t there.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
