It’s the 100th season of the National Football League. The greatest sports season is here—and of course, there are drama llamas making headlines. It’s not Odell Beckham, Jr., who at times, had his antics overblown in the same fashion the liberal media hyperventilates about anything President Trump says. In fact, OBJ and even newly inducted Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens look like altar boys compared to all-pro wideout Antonio Brown.
He was traded to Oakland after his locker room drama became too much. We all know this, folks. When your star wide receiver gets into it with the franchise quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, things aren’t going to go well. And all of this after he was made the highest-paid wide receiver at the time. That’s been eclipsed by the Atlanta Falcons’ Julio Jones contract extension which was inked last week.
You saw HBO’s Hard Knocks. The dude arrives at training camp in a hot air balloon. He got frostbite on both his feet due to a cryotherapy treatment gone awry. And then decided to straight-up cause trouble about a helmet. He filed two grievances. He lost both. Then, he was fined $54,000 for skipping practices. If this was a marketing ploy, it worked. Scores of companies offered to make the wideout a custom helmet to his liking and would pay him millions to wear it on the field. Then, there was the $215,000 fine for conduct detrimental to the team. That also came with his $29 million in guaranteed money being voided. Brown wanted to be released. He unfollowed the Raiders and their quarterback Derek Carr on social media. You all saw the video of his delight when it was made official. He always wanted to go to the New England Patriots. And that’s exactly what happened hours later, agreeing to a one-year $15 million deal that was accompanied with a cozy $9 million signing bonus. Let’s be honest. With Tom Brady, a good offensive line, Sonny Michel at running back, and Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, and now AB in the wide receiving lineup—the Patriots are probably going to be Super Bowl champs again. Winning back-to-back titles…again. But then came the rape allegations (via ESPN):
Antonio Brown has been accused of sexually assaulting his former trainer, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Florida.
In the lawsuit, a copy of which was reviewed by ESPN, Brown's former trainer, Britney Taylor, accuses the newly signed New England Patriots receiver of sexually assaulting her on three separate occasions in 2017 and '18.
"We are aware of the civil lawsuit that was filed earlier today against Antonio Brown, as well as the response by Antonio's representatives," the Patriots said in a statement on Tuesday night. "We take these allegations very seriously. Under no circumstances does this organization condone sexual violence or assault. The league has informed us that they will be investigating. We will have no further comment while that investigation takes place."
The first alleged incident came in June 2017, with Taylor saying Brown exposed himself and kissed her without consent at one of his Pittsburgh-area homes. A month later, while at Brown's home in his native Miami, Taylor alleges in the lawsuit, Brown masturbated near her without her knowledge and ejaculated on her back, then later bragged about it in a series of text messages. In May 2018, after a night out at a Miami-area club, Taylor says she went back to Brown's home in Miami to use the bathroom and grab some food, and the receiver "forced her down onto a bed, pushed her face into the mattress, and forcibly raped her."
The response from Antonio Brown’s legal representation https://t.co/EWthra5Fvp
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 11, 2019
We’ll keep you updated, but the AB show just took a violent turn.
UPDATE: NFL considering placing AB on paid leave (via WaPo):
The NFL will give serious consideration to placing Antonio Brown on paid leave via its commissioner’s exempt list, according to multiple people familiar with the situation, after he was accused in a federal lawsuit in Florida of rape and sexual assault.
The wide receiver would be ineligible to play for the New England Patriots if he’s placed on the exempt list by the league.
Placing Brown on the exempt list is “possible” and something that the NFL “is going to have to focus on,” said one of the people close to the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
The league is investigating the allegations but it’s unclear whether a decision about the exempt list will be made this week, before the Patriots are scheduled to play again. Brown has not been charged with a crime, so the NFL does not have to be concerned, at this point, about interfering with a criminal investigation. It is not clear yet if or when the league’s investigators will be able to arrange interviews with Brown’s accuser and other potential witnesses.
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