NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has revealed the league is open to revising its policy on domestic abuse after New York Giants kicker Josh Brown admitted to repeated abuse of his former wife.
Brown admitted committing domestic violence upon his ex-wife, according to police documents related to a 2015 arrest, and he has now been placed on the NFL's exempt list.
"I have abused my wife," the NFL player wrote in a journal entry that was part of the material obtained in an investigation stemming from Brown's May 2015 arrest and included in the case file unveiled on Wednesday by the King County Sheriff's Office in Washington state.
In light of the revelations, the NFL said on Thursday it would reopen its own probe of Brown that could result in league discipline, and the Giants announced that he would not travel with the team to London for Sunday's game against the LA Rams.
The Giants re-signed Brown in 2015 to a two-year, $4m deal, with team co-owner John Mara saying: "Based on the facts and circumstances we were aware of at that time, we were comfortable with re-signing him."
The league was in the midst of conducting an investigation on the domestic violence charge when Brown was re-signed and subsequently issued him with a one-game suspension to start this season.
That was in spite of the fact the NFL's domestic violence policy calls for a six-game ban for first offenders with different suspension lengths possible depending on circumstances.
When asked how the NFL plans to respond to the revelations about Brown, Goodell told Sky Sports News HQ: "Quickly, thoroughly, make sure we get the facts and make sure that we implement our policies.
"If we need to modify our policies we will do that. The reality is we are always going to have to modify those policies to keep up and make sure we are doing the right things.
"We really want people to understand the reasons why we are doing this and try to keep anyone from getting in a position where they can violate those policies.
"We have three thousand young men who play this game. We have coaches. We have executives. We have a number of people who are involved in the NFL.
"They all understand the values of the NFL. They all understand the high standards and we work to meet those. That is something we will never relent on."
On Thursday, the NFL's website reported that the Giants had agreed to contract terms with 34-year-old kicker Robbie Gould, the Chicago Bears all-time scoring leader who was released just before the start of the season. He is flying to London to join the team.
Being on the exempt list means Brown's spot on the 53-man roster can be filled by someone else - Gould in this instance - but he will continue to be paid despite not being eligible to practice with the team or attend games.