As the New England Patriots get set to take on the Miami Dolphins, all eyes will be on the debut of wide receiver Antonio Brown of the Patriots. Brown was acquired earlier this week after what could only be described as a circus in his very short tenure with the Oakland Raiders.
Just when you thought it was time for the noise to stop for Brown, he gets hit with a rape accusation lawsuit from his former trainer Britney Taylor. There's been much discussion as to whether it's right for the Patriots to allow Brown to suit up today, but as of right now he'll have nothing to worry about.
Monday will be a different story, however as the NFL intends to get involved as quickly as possible. They will investigate this accusation by meeting with Britney Taylor in hopes of getting to the bottom of what really happened and figure out what the next course of action is for Brown going forward. NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reports:
Sources have said that neither the Patriots, nor the NFL, knew of the coming charges against Brown prior to his signing in New England. Had the team known, one person familiar with the situation said, owner Robert Kraft would not have signed off on the signing.
Brown is compelled to cooperate with the league and be truthful, as per personal conduct policy, and one source said he will do so.
While the NFL did not place him on the Commissioner's Exempt list before today, the league did not rule it out later this week. As spelled out in the personal conduct policy, a player may be placed on the exempt list when he is criminally charged with a crime of violence or if commissioner Roger Goodell believes a person violated the policy. In this instance, Brown was not deemed to have fulfilled those requirements. Interestingly, Brown and the accuser engaged in settlement talks for months before the lawsuit was filed. Those were confidential, which may explain why so few people knew about it.
We'll let you know if we have any further updates on this story.
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