Patriots Release Star Wide Receiver Antonio Brown Over Rape Allegations

The New England Patriots have parted ways with their star wide receiver Antonio Brown, who has been the target of serious rape allegations, after only one game. As Fox News reports:

The New England Patriots released wide receiver Antonio Brown on Friday, 11 days after he formally joined the club following a well-publicized breakup with the Oakland Raiders.

“The New England Patriots are releasing Antonio Brown,” a club spokesperson said. “We appreciate the hard work of many people over the past 11 days, but we feel that it is best to move forward in a different direction at this time.”

Statement from a #Patriots spokesperson: https://t.co/c98rNDX9QG pic.twitter.com/DAohupBLHo

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 20, 2019

Since Brown was placed on New England’s active roster Sept. 9, two women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him. One of the women, a former trainer of Brown, filed a civil suit in South Florida federal court alleging that Brown raped her. Another woman, a painter, told Sports Illustrated that Brown exposed himself to her while she was working on a mural at his Pittsburgh home two years ago.

On Thursday, Sports Illustrated reported that the painter “received a group text message that appeared to come from the same phone number Brown provided to her in 2017. The text chain, with four other phone numbers on it, included photos of her and her children, with the person she believes is Brown encouraging others in the group to investigate the woman. The texter accused the artist of fabricating her account of the 2017 incident for cash.”

The Patriots reached a one year deal with the embattled wide receiver on September 7th. Brown declined to discuss the allegations on Thursday during a meeting with reporters.

AUadmin