TW: This article mentions details of sexual assault that some readers may find disturbing. Resources can be found at the bottom of the story.

 

Brown ordered to pay $1.2 Million

 

NFL superstar Antonio Brown’s name was back in the media in a negative light this past week. A judge just ordered Brown to pay $1.2 million, $407,000 for medical expenses and $793,000 for pain and suffering, for physically assaulting truck driver Anton Tumanov in 2020. 

Brown has been showing signs of escalating predatory behavior that has now spanned over decades. Brown has multiple sexual assault claims against him, a criminal record, and a reputation for not getting along with teammates and staff. The NFL was a major enabler in Brown’s intensification of harmful and predatory behavior for not properly assisting and disciplining him for alarming behaviors exhibited early on in his career.

 

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 Early Warning Signs

 

Signs of aggression were seen in Brown before he entered the NFL. According to many people who knew him growing up, Brown has carried around a trouble maker reputation since he was young. His mom kicked out of his home at the end of senior year for unknown reasons. 

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While playing at Florida International University Brown he was immediately expelled after getting in an argument with a student on campus. Just before thinking his career was over due to his short temper he went on to get signed by Central Michigan University and continued his successful football career. This was the first of many publicly acknowledged times where Brown’s skill level was put over the plenty of red flags he made clear.

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Upon leaving Central Michigan after his junior year Brown was the sixth round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010 beginning his career in the NFL. The star wide receiver excelled with the Steelers and in 2012 he became the first player to ever have 1,000 yards both returning and receiving. After his first year Brown signed a $40+ million five year contact with the Steelers.

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Brown rose quickly to a fan favorite. Teammates accredited his ego boost to his misbehavior that began to show on field in 2013. Brown was fined for several in-zone touch down celebrations. He also received a fine for giving a standing crane kick to a punter for the Browns. Brown’s behavior off the field also escalated. He ran into many problems with fellow players and head coach Mike Tomlin over issues such as his fines, tardiness, and lack of general respect. 

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The 2016 AFC Wildcard Game of the Cincinnati Bengals V.S. The New England Patriots is one many fans of Brown vividly remember. A hit from the Bengals rendered him unconscious and severely concussed. Many fans and players marked a change in Brown’s behavior even after recovery. Some believe that Brown suffers from CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is defined as a brain condition that is brought on by repeated blows to the head and concussions. 

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Symptoms of CTE appear slowly and get progressively worse through the span of over a decade. Similar to alzhimers, CTE is said to cause memory loss. Other symptoms of CTE include changes in mood, including feeling increasingly frustrated, agitated, or confused, slurred speech, difficulty thinking and more. Though it is very possible Brown is suffering from CTE his aggressive behaviors were shown far before the 2016 blow. 

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Soon after he got back on the field Brown slipped back into old behavior and was fined for going live on social media in the locker room during a post win speech by Tomlin. Tomlin is reported to have accepted the disrespect due to Brown’s excellent performance, claiming that he would say something when Brown started slipping in games.  

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According to teammates and staff Brown’s issues with the Steelers slowly began to bubble over and in 2018 they traded him to the Raiders where he signed a three year contract worth $50 million. Clearly Brown was the problem though and issues quickly arose with the Raiders. 

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Between arguments with teammates and staff and refusing to wear their new helmets which resulted in multiple penalties the Raiders were fed up. The team dropped Brown in September of 2019. The New England Patriots quickly signed Brown on a one year contract before the start of the season. However, one game into the seasons sexual assault allegations came out against Brown resulting in the Patriots dropping him. 

 

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Sexual Assault Claims

 

The first sexual assault claim was brought against Brown in September 2019 by Brittany Taylor, his former trainer. Brown and Taylor met at Central Michigan at bible study. Taylor was a gymnast at LSU. Taylor claims that in June of 2017 Brown exposed himself nonconsensually during their session and forcibly kissed her. The behavior escalated in the next visit where he began masturbating near her and ejaculated on her back. 

Upon leaving Brown wrote Taylor an email, bragging about what he did (figure one). Through jumbled verbage Brown’s email describes raping Taylor, who claims he forced her down to his bed, pushed her face into the mattress and raped her. She claims Brown’s behavior escalated from manipulation and false promises to rape. Taylor claims Brown assaulted her on three separate occasions.

 

Brown has and continues to adamantly deny all claims. In a statement issued by Darren Heitner, Brown’s attorney he said Brown “denies each and every allegation in the lawsuit.” Heitner said they were participating in a “consensual personal relationship” and all sexual encounters were “entirely consensual.” Brown and his lawyer have described the lawsuit as a “money grab.” Heitner went on to say Brown will “aggressively defend himself.” According to ESPN’s Josina Anderson, Brown reportedly plans to countersue Taylor for civil extortion. 

After Taylor came forward two anonymous women also claimed Brown had assaulted them in the past years. Nothing came of the anonymous allegations. Around the time Taylor filed her civil suit Brown went live on social media in Tom Brady’s training gym to say, “the devil gonna try to bring you down when you’re close to your goals.” 

 

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The Patriots Drop Brown -

 

Brown was released from the Patriots on September 20, 2019, five days after his debut. They released this public statement: “the New England Patriots are releasing Antonio Brown. We appreciate the hard work of many people over the past 11 days, but we feel that it is best to move in a different direction at this time.”

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In NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual state of the league address prior to Super Bowl Sunday 2020 he addressed Brown. Goodell said “The first thing always is to think about the well-being of Antonio, to understand what Antonio is going through.” He went on to say, “We don’t talk about the wellness of our players publicly, but I can tell you that you can be sure that the NFL and NFLPA have a tremendous amount of resources available to all players. They are going to be made available to Antonio.”

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Mere months after sexual assault claims were made public against him the NFL commissioner is telling everyone in the audience that they need to try to “understand what Antonio is going through.” Whether was only referring to his 2016 severe head injury or another one this public praise of someone accused three times of sexual assault is disgusting. Instead of being concerned with how Brown is feeling the focus should have been shifted to the survivors. Think about what they are going through. Think about providing your “tremendous amount of resources” to them.

 

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Physical Assault

 

As seen in years prior Brown is known to have a bad temper and is capable of physical assault. In April 2018 Brown threw two vases, an ottoman, and other furniture out of his 14th story apartment, nearly hitting a 22-month-old and his grandfather. When police arrived they described Brown as being extremely aggressive and agitated. He was reported to be yelling at security personnel when police arrived on the scene.

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The boy’s father, Ophir Sternberg, subsequently sued Brown for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Sternberg’s lawsuit claims the boy has suffered nightmares since the incident. The case came to a close in July of 2019 when the judge announced that Brown must pay an undisclosed amount to a college fund for the boy and donate to an unnamed charity. Brown tweeted about clearing the issue up and apologizing, but deleted it an hour later.

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Clearly he hadn’t learned from his actions and in January 2020 Brown assaulted Tumanov, the truck driver mentioned at the beginning of the article. Brown became agitated when Tumanov told him they didn’t accept checks as payment. He threw a rock at Tumanov’s truck, hitting the side of his door. Tumanov’s dash camera caught the reflection of Brown repeatedly slamming Tumanov’s head back and then forward into the wheel over and over. 

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The attack resulted in Tumanov requiring surgery for two herniated discs. Brown was faced with battery and burglary charges for the bus assault. For over two years now Tumanov’s lawyer has said its been impossible to get Brown to respond. He had to track him down at a nightclub in Georgia to serve him court papers.

 

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The Tampa Bay Bucceneers Sign Brown

 

In October of 2020 Brown signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team claimed that they would hold Brown on a “tight leash” in part due to the fact that he was still on probation for assaulting Tumanov. Tom Brady, who had played with Brown for the Patriots, advocated for his contract with the Buccaneers. In an interview with ESPN he said he didn’t feel bad for supporting Brown because “he’s his own person.”

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Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said he wanted to “let the court system handle it” and that “if it’s found out to be true, he won’t be with us.” Despite not being found guilty in a court of law trouble soon arose with Brown. 

Brown accused the Buccaneers of forcing him to play through an “extremely painful” ankle injury that required surgery. In what would be his last game for the team, playing the New York Jets at the MetLife Stadium, he took off his jersey, shoulder pads and undershirt, throwing his shirt and gloves towards the stands. Security officers were seen on camera smiling at Brown. Buccaneer staff looked confused. Brown proceeded to run shirtless across the field during the third quarter and exited the stadium. 

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In a statement released by the Buccaneers they said “The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have terminated the contract of Antonio Brown, effective immediately.” The statement went on to say “we have attempted, multiple times through this week, to schedule an evaluation by an outside orthopedic specialist, yet Antonio has not complied.” Later, in a statement through his attorney Sean Burstyn, Brown claimed his firing was all due to his ankle.

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In April 2021 NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Brown and Taylor reached a settlement. Shortly after the settlement the NFL asked Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht if the case concluding made them interested in Brown again. Licht said the conclusion “helps, but that’s not necessarily the deciding factor of whether or not we’re going to talk.” He added, “we’ve had discussion throughout the off season and as you can tell, we’ve put an emphasis on bringing back players, our players from last year that contributed to our success. He would be no different.”

I linger on the last part, “he would be no different.” To me, someone with multiple claims of sexual assault against them should be looked at differently. However, when examining the NFLs background for handling cases of sexual assault and harassment I guess Licht isn’t far off.

Brown currently remains a free agent.

 

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Moving Forward

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In the timeline format above it is clear to track the escalation in Brown’s crimes and wrongdoings. Through inadequate repercussions for violent behavior and misconduct Brown was able to continue offending. There is a big part of me that believes a great number of offenders, whether a famous NFL star or not, really do believe that there are no real repercussions for these acts or that these acts are wrong in the first place.

As we reach the fifth year anniversary of the resurgence of the ‘Me Too’ movement we celebrate a safer atmosphere created where survivors of sexual assault are supported instead of shamed.  The alarming rise in sexual and physical assault claims against current and former NFL players can be seen in some ways as the success of this movement. Survivors are feeling more comfortable to come forward and seek justice. 

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There are still massive societal changes that need to take place to move closer to a world free of sexual violence. This can be seen in the case of Brown and Taylor, as she was burdened with court proceedings for over a year and a half and the memory of sexual assault is something that lives with the survivor forever. There is no amount of money that will make sexual assault okay. 

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Creating a world free of sexual violence will be incredibly difficult. However, starting small by holding people accountable is the best way to start. For too long those with power and or money have felt like they have the right to assault and abuse others. Call things out when you first see them. Put an end to bad behavior before it escalates to something worse. Through his rise to fame Antonio Brown has been cheered on as he manipulated and abused people. The NFL was a major enabler in Brown’s intensification of harmful and predatory behavior for not properly assisting and disciplining him for alarming behaviors exhibited early on in his career.

 

If you or someone you love has been affected by sexual assault there are resources available.  

 

For the National Sexual Assault Hotline call (1-800-656-4673) and visit rainn.org for 24/7 online chatting and alternate resources.