Antonio Brown’s football career with the NFL seems to have come to an end after he was dropped by the New England Patriots. His release happened right after a second woman came forward with a sexual misconduct allegation. This will be the second allegation that has been made against the former wide receiver. Although he has not been picked up by any team yet, the NFL still has not announced whether or not he is eligible to play in the league.
Not only was the player dropped from the Patriots, but he was also dropped from his two sponsors. Xenith, a helmet manufacturer, ended its tie with Brown three days after he was accused of rape by former trainer Britney Taylor. Brown had decided to wear Xenith’s Shadow helmet after making a big deal about his previous helmet, Schutt Air Advantage, not being certified by the NFL.
Nike followed shortly after releasing a short statement in an interview with The Boston Globe, “Antonio Brown is not a Nike athlete.”
The company’s spokesperson declined to comment further on why the decision was made. It’s safe to say that no company wants to be tied to an athlete with two separate sexual misconduct allegations. It’s also safe to say that no team will sign him until he is cleared from these allegations.
The NFL will probably wait for their investigation to be completed before they make any decisions on his eligibility to play. There is a debate on whether he should have been allowed to still play or if he should have been benched.
The choice to not bench him while he was being investigated after the first allegation was a big mistake on the NFL’s part. Continuing to allow him to play could have major repercussions for the league going forward. One of those being that it will have other players thinking that they can get away with just about anything. It might have other players thinking they can follow in his footsteps. It’ll have them thinking they can get away with “murder.”
For fans, allowing them to keep playing after any kind of allegation could make it seem as though celebrities or professional players have some kind of exemption from following the law. It’s a special privilege that they have because their jobs are to entertain the millions of viewers that watch them. It’s their very own “get out of jail free” card.
Allowing these players to continue playing, even while they are being investigated, is like a slap in the face to the victims. As long as you keep being the talent that the league needs you to be and people keep watching the game, then it’s okay as long as you haven’t been found guilty yet.
With his NFL career seemingly over, Brown has decided to go back to school. He posted a photo of his fall class schedule to his Instagram story. The former star has started online classes at Central Michigan University. Brown tweeted, “My English paper do by tonight 12am need a prof reader make sure As and Bs.”
The school confirmed that he is enrolled in classes but will not be attending any on campus. He was previously enrolled at this same school before entering the NFL.
Why would a school allow for a student who has had more than one sexual misconduct allegation against them be admitted or allowed to attend classes, online or not? Yes, I do know that he hasn’t been found guilty of any of this but what are the odds that both women are lying. Only the two different parties know what exactly is going on. We have seen time and time again over the past two years, story after story, of men in power taking advantage of a woman.
His cocky demeanor leads me to believe that the actions he is being accused of are something that he is capable of. I understand that just because a person acts a certain way it doesn’t mean that it’s exactly who they are. But in light of these situations, the way he has responded to them is unbelievable. He seems to show no remorse, especially when responding to the allegations. These are very serious situations he is being accused of and he doesn’t seem to be taking it that way.
Continuing with his social media antics, Brown has gone back and forth with Los Angeles Rams safety, Eric Weddle. It started when the defensive back took to Twitter to respond to Brown after he tweeted out, “The game need me I’m like test answers.” Weddle replied and when a Twitter follower proceeded to tell him that he couldn’t guard the former play he responded, “Don’t need to. Isnt on a team.”
Seemingly set off by the tweet, Brown replied: “U need some attention lil man glad I put that stuff arm in your neck in pittsburgh u deserve it Lil Weedle.” The two went back and forth a couple of times before the Twitter war was eventually ended with Brown tweeting out a picture of himself stiff-arming the Los Angeles Ram. Although he seems to have “retired” from the game, it looks like he actually misses it.
The one question this whole situation brings to mind is why the NFL would allow him to keep playing and practicing when former 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick was blacklisted from the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem? Rape and sexual misconduct allegations should be a greater reason to be blacklisted from the NFL.
One would think that the consequences would be greater for someone with sexual misconduct allegations than someone who is kneeling in protest for a worthy cause.
The NFL seems to be setting double standards for its players and it’s really showing.
