Antonio Brown Accused Of Several Sexual Assault Allegations Before Even Practicing With New England Patriots

(Photo Credit: John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

We believe that everyone is entitled to face their accusers and to a fair trial if one is warranted.

So we will not say a whole lot about the allegations emerging against Antonio Brown except this: People born around don’t die square.

The great boxing trainer Cus D’amato used that phrase and it simply means that people are what they are. Buyer beware. D’amato worked with Mike Tyson, so you can imagine he knew of what he spoke.

Brown, who managed to blow up a huge guaranteed contract with the Oakland Raiders over issues petty and preposterous, was released by the team and signed by the New England Patriots almost immediately. This was considered an act of genius by the Patriots.

Maybe not.

The fact that he’s a nutjob who walked out on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17 last season aside, Brown’s ridiculous crusade to wear a helmet deemed unsafe by the NFL seemed almost to make the argument that he’d already been smacked in the noggin a time or two too many. Now, however, the clown show is over. The issues are not in the NFL’s court or the court of public opinion.

Brown, The New York Times reports, faces a lawsuit by his former trainer that alleges three separate incidents of sexual assault and rape. Brown is said in this lawsuit to have forced himself upon a woman working as his physical trainer in 2017 and 2018.

Whether he did this or didn’t will decided by the courts or a settlement that makes the charges do away.

Could be completely false. Could be completely true. On the basis of his behavior, why would anyone think this isn’t credible, if not completely as alleged? Based on the money he earns, why would anyone think this isn’t a holdup keyed to his reputation for being (shall we say) erratic?

Brown’s lawyer, Darren Heitner, said in a statement Tuesday night that the receiver and the trainer, a female, were involved in a “consensual personal relationship. Any sexual interaction with Mr. Brown was entirely consensual.” Brown has four sons and a daughter; he has never been married.

The Patriots are already giving receiver Josh Gordon his fifth chance (his suspensions equal the number of fingers on your best hand). Now they’ve ventured into Brown’s interesting world. It’s nice to want to win, but what is the price of your soul?

One would hope nothing untoward happened and no one was hurt. But someone has filed a lawsuit and the allegations are serious. If the Patriots don’t act, the NFL might. On his best day, Brown isn’t a sympathetic character.

Either way, no one comes out clean in our dirty world. How fascinating that Tide, the detergent, is now an NFL sponsor. Let’s see if Tide can get this stain out.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman