The NFL, which suspended New York Giants kicker Josh Brown, has some explaining to do.

Brown admitted to domestic violence against his wife in police documents that were released on Wednesday. The NFL suspended Brown for a mere one game — despite its supposedly get-tough-on-abuse policy calling for a six-game ban for first-time offenders — and the Giants went out of their way to defend him afterward.

Brown’s admissions in the form of a letter and emails were part of evidence that was released in an investigation in the state of Washington after Brown was arrested last year. Brown’s wife, Molly, made a 911 call, which led to her providing King County police with the written documents as proof.

Brown initially was charged with assault in the fourth degree/domestic violence, and though the charge was later dropped, Brown’s journal entry appeared to offer an admission of guilt: “I have abused my wife.”

Molly Brown told police in 2015 after the arrest that her then-husband had abused her numerous times, more than 20 occasions over the past several years. The two have since divorced.

The NFL issued a statement Thursday afternoon indicating that the league tried several times in vain to get more information from the sheriff’s office, all in vain. The league now has reopened the investigation, it says, based on Wednesday night’s reveal of the documents.

The documents were not made public by the County Sheriff’s office prior to Wednesday night, and the Giants also say they had not seen them before this time.

The Giants are preparing to leave for London to play a Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Brown’s words appear to reveal a very dark side of himself. In one journal entry, Brown wrote that he had “physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally been a repulsive man.” In an email, Brown said he had “objectified women and never really worried about the pain and hurt I caused them.”

There’s more. Brown opens a door to a man who had a patterned history of abuse and carried a God-like complex while treating his then wife as a “slave.” Brown blamed his actions of being abused himself when he was 6.

“I have been a liar for most of my life,” he wrote. “I made selfish decisions to use and abuse women starting at the age of 7 to fill this void. I objectified women and never really worried about the pain and hurt I caused them. My ability to connect emotionally to other people was zero. My empathy levels were zero.

“Because I never handled these underlying issues I became an abuser and hurt Molly physically, emotionally and verbally. I viewed myself as God basically and she was my slave.”

Not only was Brown not given a six-game suspension — he served his one game in Week 1 — but the Giants gave him a two-year, $4 million contract extension in the offseason.

The NFL’s new language on domestic abuse reads clearly: all first-offense violations “that involve assault, battery, domestic violence, dating violence, child abuse and other forms of family violence, or sexual assault involving physical force or committed against someone incapable of giving consent [will result in a] a “baseline suspension without pay of six games.”

The league previously justified the punishment because it said in August “insufficient information to corroborate prior allegations.” But all they needed was the words of Brown himself. It is not known how much Brown himself revealed to the Giants or the NFL about his role in the abuse.

Apparently, the NFL is reinterpreting its own rules. Given how vigorously the NFL pursued the Tom Brady and deflate-gate matter, spending months in court to fight the result and tens of millions of dollars in the process, it appears the NFL gave almost no effort to dig deep on Brown — if the league, in fact, knew any of what existed on his emails and journals — which clearly spell out his patterned behavior.

Molly Brown indicated in an interview with police in 2015 that her former husband admitted to his role in domestic violence in letters, so even with a cursory investigation on the matter, the NFL would have known that the letters existed.

Additionally, Giants owner John Mara made it sound in August like he and the team were well aware of what Brown was accused of — and they’ve firmly stood behind him in the wake of them.

“All I can tell you is that we’re aware of all the allegations, and I believe all the facts and circumstances, and we were comfortable with our decision to re-sign him,” Mara said in August.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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