In a column published by Sports Illustrated on Sunday, Annie Apple, mother of New York Giants cornerback Eli Apple, criticized owner John Mara and the team for their handling of kicker Josh Brown following his alleged domestic abuse.
The NFL placed Brown on the commissioner's exempt list Friday after documents surfaced last week in which the veteran kicker admitted to domestic abuse against his wife.
Apple, a contributor to ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, had pointed words for Mara, who said Thursday during a radio interview with WFAN, "[Brown] admitted to us he'd abused his wife in the past. What's a little unclear is the extent of that."
She wrote:
"The comments made by John Mara, owner of the New York Giants, were insensitive, dismissive and callous. How are you a so-called champion of domestic violence but lack basic compassion for a victim? Yes, this man signs my son's checks as I've been reminded on Twitter. Mr. Mara owns the New York Giants. He doesn't own Annie Apple. Wrong is wrong. And Mr. Mara's comments were unapologetically wrong and hit at a raw place."
She went on to tell of her own history with domestic violence, detailing a number of times that she was assaulted by her boyfriend, who later became her husband. Apple also described the day she chose to leave her husband, while she was about three months pregnant with Eli:
"Something in me broke. I knew today would be the last day. I didn't know what life would be like with two little boys and a baby on the way, but I knew this was no life. Even if I didn't know I deserved better, I knew my kids did. I held in my tears because I didn't want them to see me break for fear it would break them.
My ride came and I got my boys in the car. I hadn't shared what was happening with people. I didn't tell my mom until I had ended up in the emergency room two years prior, but no one could make me stop going back to this man. ... Six months later I had Eli. I never looked back. I never went back."
You can read her full column here.