THE PRESS BOX: The NFL needs to address its violent psychological problem

NFL players, league personnel, fans and sports writers across the country reacted with a uniform sentiment when news broke about Josh Brown, then-kicker for the New York Giants, abusing his ex-wife.

How do we keep letting this happen?

Brown, an NFL veteran who entered the league in 2003, was arrested and charged with fourth degree assault in May 2015 after an incident with his then-wife, Molly.

Still, the Giants well-respected owner John Mara re-signed Brown in the offseason. According to Mara, the organization was well aware of Brown’s history of abuse.

In a shocking interview on New York Radio Station WFAN, Mara said Brown “admitted to us he’d abused his wife in the past. What’s a little unclear is the extent of that.”

Mara’s inability to handle this situation with the seriousness it deserves is indicative of the grossly inadequate consideration given to domestic violence cases in the NFL.

Remember when Baltimore Ravens former running-back Ray Rice knocked out his then-fiancee (now wife), Janay, in 2014?

The Ravens and NFL went to huge lengths to ensure fans Rice would be back for the upcoming season until TMZ made public the video of Rice punching Janay in the face and dragging her unconscious body out of an elevator in Atlantic City.

Suddenly, the commissioner, league, team and Rice couple had conflicting stories. Rice was indefinitely suspended and his Ravens contract terminated because the NFL commissioner alleged Rice had been “dishonest.”

To quell the situation, former FBI director Robert Mueller led an independent investigation overseen by Mara and Steelers co-owner Art Rooney III. Mueller was also instrumental in negotiating the NFL’s deal with DirecTV.

Rice’s suspension was revoked and he has reiterated he is working to better himself and family by going through counseling with Janay. But Mara, the Giants co-owner who publicly admitted knowing about Brown’s abuse of Molly, is the same Giants co-owner who oversaw the Rice investigation.

Coincidence?

Another example, also from 2014: former Carolina Panthers running back Greg Hardy physically assaulted his ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder, to the point she told police she thought he was going to kill her. Despite images of Holder’s body being significantly battered in addition to convincing testimony — even after Holder’s initial steadfast refusal to talk for fear of her life — Hardy easily won the case on appeal and was immediately signed by the Dallas Cowboys.

But Brown’s situation deserves additional examination too, because his behavior sheds light on the psychological depths and damage of abuse — a consequence too often viewed as a “side-effect,” of physical, verbal or sexual abuse — if not ignored entirely.

Brown told ABC News he has taken measures to get help and “it’s important to share” he never struck his wife and never would.

“Abuse takes many forms,” Brown said.

The King County Sheriff’s Office in Washington released documents last week where Brown detailed the psychological abuse.

“I viewed myself as God basically and she was my slave,” Brown wrote in a letter. “I carried an overwhelming sense of entitlement because I put money higher than God and I used it as a power tool.”

Furthermore, the documents indicate a habitual pattern of abuse clearly existed in Brown’s relationship, and this abuse was reinforced by a sense of entitlement associated with status.

Although Brown claims he did not strike or otherwise physically assault his ex-wife, the psychological nature of his abuse illuminates the underlying causes of domestic violence in the NFL more than just the cases like Rice’s or Hardy’s.

The NFL must stop treating the issue of domestic violence as a slew of incidents and start treating it as a psychological epidemic in order for change to occur.

This problem is not about isolated incidents of assault — these are only tangible manifestations of an attitude reinforced by many who will never commit acts of domestic violence.

Steve Smith, an NFL veteran and wide-receiver for the Baltimore Ravens, captured the outraged sentiment in a post on Sqor Sports.

“We have valued the amount of air in a ball but yet devalued when persons have been harmed and fail to put forth necessary actions or energy and time in which far less important things have taken precedent!” Smith wrote.

There is a sense of entitlement associated with power and superiority complexes ingrained in some NFL players, and that psychological organ cannot be destroyed by suspensions and fines.

The latter disciplinary actions, as Smith suggests, are meaningless gestures made by a multi-billion dollar corporation in order to save face and a few extra viewers on Sundays.

It will take an overhaul of how the NFL treats players’ mental health and stability in order for change to be initiated. In other words: league-wide treatment plans in which this issue is treated as what it is — a psychological epidemic.

“Our system is broken,” Smith continued in his Sqor Sports post. “The NFL needs to stop acting like they care and start showing people they mean what they say!”

The system is broken when we find ourselves asking, “how do we keep letting this happen?”

Brown’s owner and his organization knew about his habitual abuse, and they decided to re-sign him and attempt to handle it in-house. They treated his patterns of abuse as an isolated incident.

That’s how we keep letting this happen.

SPORTS EDITOR

Zach Joachim
Zach is a junior pursuing a dual degree in print journalism and English. A proud Norfolk-ian, he enjoys long walks on the beach, English literature of the romantic period and anything pertaining to Harry Potter or baseball. Zach an avid Red Sox and Patriots fan who can usually be found working at the Student Media Center or running along the James.
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ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR

Gareth Bentall
Gareth is a cartoonist and illustrator currently in his senior year as a communication arts student. He specializes in political cartoons, humorous illustration, underground comic trivia, bird watching, hoarding, forwarding, boogie boarding and Parcheesi. Gareth currently resides inside of his inkpot. Last year, Gareth won the National Society of Professional Journalists award for Editorial Cartooning.
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