Former New York Giants kicker Josh Brown has received an additional six-game suspension for domestic violence accusations, the NFL confirmed in a text message to ESPN on Friday morning.
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Brown, who had previously served a one-game suspension at the beginning of the 2016 season, has accepted the additional ban, which stemmed from a further league investigation.
"We reopened the investigation based on new info," the league texted to ESPN on Friday. "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 the Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott awaits to hear from a U.S. District Court judge in Texas on whether he'll be granted a temporary restraining order that would allow him to play a full season, rather than serve his six-game suspension for alleged domestic abuse, which was upheld on Tuesday, beginning next week.
"Timing has nothing to do with Zeke and made no sense to hold this until Zeke was complete," the league texted to ESPN.
Although he remains unsigned after being released by the Giants last October, Brown will begin his six-game suspension immediately, a source confirmed to ESPN's Dan Graziano.
Brown appeared on "Good Morning America" in February and claimed that he never hit his now ex-wife Molly Brown.
"I mean, I had put my hands on her. I kicked the chair. I held her down. The holding down was the worst moment in our marriage," Brown said during an interview with ABC News' Paula Faris. "I never hit her. I never slapped her. I never choked her. I never did those types of things."
Brown was arrested on May 22, 2015, in Woodinville, Washington, on suspicion of domestic assault in the fourth degree, although charges against him were never filed. Documents related to his arrest were released in October 2016, which included letters, emails and journals containing admissions by the kicker that he had physically, verbally and emotionally abused his wife.
"These were the things that you say to yourself and then you'd burn them. ... And I didn't," Brown told "Good Morning America." "The fact that my private things are being used against me, that's hard to swallow. I'm talking about my journals. I had to learn all that and write that down in order to heal, and now you're telling me that I'm going to be punished for trying to correct the things in my life that needed to be changed."
Brown was coming off a career-best season in 2015, which included a 94 percent success rate on field goal attempts. The Giants were scrutinized for signing him to a two-year, $4 million deal in April 2016, despite knowing he was under investigation for domestic abuse.
