Antonio Brown’s Controversial Season

 The spotlight was on the National Football League (NFL) wide receiver Antonio Brown this past offseason. First, Brown signed a contract with the Oakland Raiders after playing his first nine years on the Pittsburgh Steelers. He then threatened to retire after his personal helmet was not approved by the NFL. Following this incident, he was fined for inappropriate behavior in practice after he punted a ball and cursed out coaches. 

On September 7, before he had played his first game, Brown was dropped from the Oakland Raiders. Just hours after he was dropped, the New England Patriots signed Brown to a one year contract, making the defending Super Bowl champions look even stronger coming into the 2020 season. 

On September 8, Brittney Taylor, Brown’s former personal trainer, accused him of rape and sexual abuse on three separate occasions. She provided inappropriate text messages sent from Brown as evidence. He was forced to sit out the first week of football because of both scrutinies from the media and the transition to his new team. 

In his first game with the Patriots, Brown reminded the league of how impactful he was, ending the game with 56 yards and a touchdown. Although Brown had a great first weekend, he was dropped the following week by the Patriots because of  the text messages he sent to different women and the sexual assault allegations surrounding him. Brown is now a free agent and it is unclear if he will be offered a contract from another team.