Busy afternoon/evening for the Patriots as Demaryius Thomas was traded to the Jets for a sixth-round pick, and Antonio Brown was accused of three sexual assaults by the same woman in a lawsuit.
I answered a lot of questions about both in an overnight chat, but let's go over each situation, starting with Brown and why I want to say it's likely not to affect him this season, unless this one big shoe drops.
And that would be if this causes a Harvey Weinstein or Roger Ailes domino effect, where one person comes forward, and that leads to multiple other accusers that share similar stories. All of a sudden, all bets are off and things would move very quickly, likely with Brown moved to the commissioner's exempt list and his career would be, in effect, over. And, really, if Brown is guilty of what's being alleged here — even some of it — then it probably wasn't the first time he did act in this manner.
Let's back up for a second.
So the New York Times was first with the news that Britney Taylor, a former college friend of Brown's, alleged in a lawsuit — not a criminal complaint — that Brown assault her twice and raped her once over the course of 2017 and '18. These are very serious accusations and deserve to be taken seriously.
You can read the entire lawsuit here.
The Patriots released a statement:
“We are aware of the civil lawsuit that was filed earlier today against Antonio Brown, as well as the response by Antonio’s representatives. We take these allegations very seriously. Under no circumstance 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 NFL will first ascertain how credible the accuser is, and if she has any further evidence.
- Why wasn't the police contacted about this at time of the incidents, or at any point? Strange to go straight lawsuit in my mind.
- McCann said the Miami police could now open their own investigation.
- Did the accuser confide in any people at the time of the incidents? Sounds like she might have told her mother and fiancee. There was a football player mentioned, but not by name.
- It seems like some of the people who could be witnesses are now ex-employees of Brown's. They should be willing to talk, but of course, they could have an ax to grind.
- No, the text messages in the lawsuit do not look good for Brown, but I'm sure the defense would dispute the context of them. They'll say Brown was repeating back the allegation from a previous text, not issuing a statement that he did it.
(Adam Richins for BSJ)