LONDON _ The NFL placed Giants kicker Josh Brown on the commissioner's exempt list Friday in light of recently released documents that included Brown admitting to abusing his wife.
Adolpho Birch, the NFL's Senior Vice President of Labor Policy & League Affairs, wrote a letter to Brown telling him of the designation, which can only be made by Commissioner Roger Goodell under the auspices of the league's personal conduct policy. Birch wrote that the roster move would be for "a limited and temporary basis to permit the league fully to review the materials and determine whether further action is necessary."
Brown will continue to collect his full salary while on the exempt list, but he does not count against the team's 53-man roster. The Giants filled that vacancy with veteran kicker Robbie Gould, who will kick for the Giants on Sunday against the Rams. Brown cannot attend practices or games while on the list, but can be present at the Giants' facility "with club permission."
Brown has three days to appeal the commissioner's decision.
The Giants said in a statement on Thursday that they would re-evaluate the findings and Brown's future with the team when they returned from their game in London. A source said that continues to be the case. The NFL said on Thursday it is re-opening its investigation into Brown, which first focused on an incident in May 2015 in which he was arrested for assaulting his wife Molly at their home in Washington state. Charges were dropped in that case.
Birch's letter states that the NFL "made multiple requests of the Sheriff's Office for any and all pertinent information developed through its investigation. Because the Sheriff's Office was treating its investigation as an open matter, however, the NFL's requests were rejected and the materials first became known and available to us at the same time they were released publicly. The released materials appear to contain information regarding other incidents of abuse separate from the May 22, 2015 incident for which you were disciplined under the Personal Conduct Policy."
Brown was already suspended one game for the May 2015 incident. He served that in Week 1 this season.
"Your placement on commissioner exempt does not represent a finding that you have violated the Personal Conduct Policy," Birch wrote. "Prior to any determination in that respect, you will be given an opportunity to review our investigatory report, meet with the league, and/or present relevant information on your behalf as provided for by the Policy."
Giants coach Ben McAdoo said earlier on Friday that Brown remains a member of the team.
"We're not going to turn our back on Josh," McAdoo said. "He's a teammate and a guy who we're hoping makes strides."
McAdoo said he wanted "to make sure I have all the information available before I speak," but his overarching statement was this: "Everything is concerning."
McAdoo was asked if he has a policy for players accused of actions such as those of Brown. In an offseason interview he said he had zero tolerance for it, but in the preseason when Brown's domestic violence came to light, McAdoo said he handled it on a case-by-case basis.
"I do not support domestic violence if that's what you're asking," he said on Friday. "I don't condone it."
Some players gave their thoughts on Friday about Brown's situation.
"What was said and what was done is not what we represent as Giants," said defensive captain and linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who, like many players, is learning the details of allegations and documents that paint Brown as a serial abuser of his wife, Molly, through media reports. "Some of us know about it, some of us don't. So it's just fresh to us ... It is a tough situation and from what I have read on it, it's not too good for anyone that is involved in it."
Justin Pugh, a starting guard who supported Brown in the summer when the kicker was suspended one game, seemed to rescind that support on Twitter on Friday.
"I was misinformed and unknowingly speaking with limited information at the time I commented earlier this year," he posted. "I had no personal knowledge of his behavior at home and obviously do not condone domestic violence of any kind."
Not everyone was as direct. Quarterback Eli Manning, still bleary-eyed from the trip to London, tried desperately to balance information with the process.
"I saw some new information that was revealed," Manning said. "You support your teammates but also support the decision of the organization."
Manning appeared in a public service spot with other Giants last season in which he and others gave the message "No More" when it comes to domestic violence. Asked about his participation in those ads juxtaposed to his support for Brown, Manning said: "My focus this week has been getting ready for the Rams. Obviously, I don't know what went on behind the scenes, all I can do is support my teammates and support the organization."
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, in a letter to the Giants, questioned their "bizarrely light punishment" of Brown and urged the team to participate in a campaign with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
"It is unacceptable to continue to defend Brown," she wrote.
The Giants announced on Thursday that Brown would not travel with the team to London. The NFL also said it would re-open its investigation into Brown, who served a one-game suspension at the start of the season stemming from a domestic violence arrest in May 2015 in which the charges were swiftly dropped.
The league said Thursday that King County (Washington) law enforcement was uncooperative during the initial investigation process. Sheriff John Urquhart, on a radio interview in Seattle, said the NFL's investigator did not identify himself as such when requesting information.
Urquhart said even if the investigator said he was from the NFL, his office would not have released the files that became public this week, which included Brown's journal entries as part of his therapy which Molly Brown gave to authorities. But Urquhart said he would have at least warned the NFL that the case was "blossoming."
"We're not gonna give them specifics," he said, "but we certainly would have cautioned the NFL to be careful about what they were going to do."
McAdoo said he went to each position room on Thursday evening before the Giants departed for their game against the Rams and told the players Brown would not be joining them. He said it was a "tough conversation" to have with Brown himself, who remains on the roster.
"It affects all of us because we hear the news and we are shocked by it and taken aback," wide receiver Victor Cruz said on Friday. "But you have to understand that everyone has a job to do and we are out here to play football. I don't think that it has bothered us too much. I think that we are focused on the task at hand."
