'I am a domestic violence survivor' - Annie Apple, mother of Giants' Eli, shares painful story

In a brave, powerful and at times painful-to-read essay for SI.com, Annie Apple, the mother of New York Giants’ rookie Eli Apple, shared exactly why the tone-deaf comments of Giants co-owner John Mara last week hit such a nerve with her and many others.

After more terrible details about the scope of kicker Josh Brown’s years-long abuse of his now-ex-wife came to light last week, Mara told WFAN that Brown had admitted to the team that he abused his wife, but, Mara inexcusably said, “what’s a little unclear is the extent of that.”

On Thursday night, Annie Apple made comments critical of Mara on Twitter, but on Sunday, she took things a step further by sharing her story.

She went on to describe, in stark detail, some of the incidents of abuse she suffered at the hands of her former husband, a relationship that started when she was just 16. The first time he hit her, Apple said, was three months in; he hit her so hard he knocked her over, and continued to pummel her and call her names even after his roommate tried to stop him.

The beating was, he said a couple of days later, a misunderstanding. One of his clients at the barbershop where he worked thought he had seen Apple with another man.

And on it went, for years, until Feb. 12, 1995, when Apple, who was pregnant with the couple’s second child, was getting ready for church with her two young sons. He was being verbally abusive, so Apple went downstairs to wait for her ride. But he came downstairs, and when she didn’t respond to something he said, he began to bash her head into the wall, leaving a dent in the drywall. She saw the frightened look in her sons’ eyes and decided that was it. She left.

Six months later, Apple had Eli. That son would go on to become a star cornerback at Ohio State, and earlier this year was drafted 10th overall by the Giants.

In London on Sunday, where New York beat the Los Angeles Rams, Eli Apple was of course asked about his mother’s very public comments, and he emphasized that she is going to do what she feels she must.

“My mom’s very vocal and that topic is very important to her, so I can understand where she was coming from,” Apple added. “But at the same time in my position I just have to do my part and play football and do what I can do.”

Annie Apple’s entire story is worth your time, but at the end she reinforces why, despite some believing she should keep quiet lest she negatively impact her son’s career, she had to speak up.

“I just know that in life, there are times when certain things are more important than your personal comfort or the game of football,” she said. “This is one of those times.”