Getty Image
It’s been close to three months since Antonio Brown was released by the Patriots shortly after multiple women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct and the NFL announced it would be conducting an investigation in the matter.
While the wide receiver has been hit with a civil case, he managed to avoid being banished to the commissioner’s exempt list because no criminal charges were filed.
However, he’s been serving a de facto suspension ever since being cut, as the league has made it pretty evident he’s not welcome back until it finishes looking into the allegations (even though there are reportedly a few teams that would be more than happy to have him and all of his baggage).
One of Brown’s accusers spoke with league officials for 10 hours about the accusations back in September but the NFL took its sweet damn time speaking to the man at the center of them, as it didn’t formally address the matter with Brown until a sitdown that took place about a month ago (although he did some stonewalling of his own by dragging his feet when it came to handing over evidence).
If you happen to follow Brown on social media, then you’re more than aware he’s spent a fair amount of time prematurely celebrating Festivus by repeatedly airing his grievances concerning how things are playing out, and on Wednesday, he kicked up some more dirt when he went on another tweet spree and accused the NFL of being racist based on its handling of the situation.
It’s clear Brown wants to play in the NFL again (despite the multiple times he said he’s done with the league), but according to Pro Football Talk, he’s probably not going to be seen back on the field this season based on what Roger Goodell said after Brown threw his latest virtual temper tantrum.
Here’s what the commissioner had to say about the current state of things:
“They [have] still not completed the investigation.
They did, our investigators did [meet with Brown], I did not meet with Antonio. But they have more work to do. They’re following up on that. And I’ll get an update when they have more information.”
There are only three games remaining in the regular season, and while Brown could theoretically be signed by a playoff team if he manages to clear his name, that possibility continues to look less and less likely based on the NFL’s obvious lack of urgency.
At least he’ll have plenty of time to work on his music career (which, if his latest song is any indication, could certainly use some work).