The Department of Justice released millions of files associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Jan. 30. Included in these files were emails exchanged by the disgraced financier and New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch.
The NFL acknowledged it would ‘look into the matter’ in a statement released Feb. 2, just hours before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual state of the league address as part of Super Bowl opening night.
‘The league is aware of the reports and Steve’s response,’ the league said in a statement. ‘Our office will look into the matter to understand the facts.’
Goodell was asked to elaborate about the Tisch-Epstein connection and whether the 76-year-old Giants co-owner would be subject to the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
‘We are going to look at all the facts,’ Goodell said. ‘We’re going to look at the context of those and try to understand that. We’ll look at how that falls under the policy, but I think we take one step at a time. Let’s get the facts first.’
The emails show Epstein provided ‘scouting reports’ on multiple women to an account belonging to Tisch, whose email address was redacted in the files. Tisch asked in emails reviewed by The Athletic and USA TODAY if various women were ‘pros,’ ‘working girls’ or ‘civilians.’
In one of the exchanges, Tisch asks, ‘Curious about (redacted). I will contact (redacted). pro or civilian?’ Later in the correspondence, the same account states, ‘send me a number to call I don’t like records of these conversations.’
Several other email strings show Tisch’s account seeking additional information about specific women he met in New York. The emails, sent in 2013, also include an invitation from Tisch for Epstein to join him in his suite for a Giants game and various attempts for the two to meet up in New York, including invitations to go on walks and meet for lunches.
Tisch expressed regret about his his ‘brief association’ with Epstein in a statement released by the Giants shortly after the documents were made public.
‘We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,’ Tisch said. ‘I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.’
Tisch has been Giants chairman and co-owner since 2005. The 76-year-old movie producer has notably helped create several hit films – including ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Risky Business’ – and has a John Madden biopic, which stars Nicolas Cage, set to release in 2026.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
USA TODAY Sports’ Eric Larsen also contributed to this report.