Former Giants K Josh Brown has been "suspended another six games for domestic violence accusations," according to sources cited by Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Brown served a one-game suspension during the '16 season, and the NFL in a text said, "We reopened the investigation based on new info. Concluded there was a violation of our personal conduct policy and imposed 6 game suspension which he accepted without appeal." The decision comes on the same day that Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott is "waiting to hear from a U.S. District Court judge in Texas whether he will be granted a temporary restraining order that would allow him to continue to play this season." The NFL said, "Timing has nothing to do with Zeke and made no sense to hold this until Zeke was complete." A source said that although Brown remains unsigned, he will "start serving the six-game suspension immediately, starting with this week's games" (ESPN.com, 9/8). In Newark, James Kratch writes this is "largely a procedural move," as Brown almost "assuredly will not play again." It will also be viewed as a "case of curious timing for the league" in relation to Elliott's hearing (NJ.com, 9/8). ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said, “You could suspend him for a million games, it doesn't make a difference. No one is signing a kicker with this on his record. This is irrelevant." He added the new suspension is "awfully conveniently timed considering the other things that are going on." Greenberg: "I can't sit here and say it’s the wrong thing to do, it is the right thing to do -- taking domestic violence seriously is the right thing to do. But boy, does this feel like it’s awfully convenient” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 9/8). NBC's Mike Florio: "This is all about putting some lipstick on the Ezekiel Elliot pig because it's glaring right now that Josh Brown got one game for what he did, Ezekiel Elliot got six games for what he allegedly did" ("PFT," NBCSN, 9/8).
THE POWERS THAT BE: In DC, Sally Jenkins writes it is time for NFL owners to "rethink the powers of the commissioner, for the sake of their own business reputations, which are being sullied." Every other league has "seen fit to go to a mature, modern system of neutral arbitration in player discipline cases, for the simple reason that it works better for all." Meanwhile, the NFL "lingers in a previous century thanks to one man’s ego." Why is it that, in every major adjudication, this commissioner is "more interested in subjugating a player, clubbing him with his personal authority, than running a decently transparent process?" (WASHINGTON POST, 9/8).
