When watching Antonio Brown play, it makes sense why some viewers, fans and teams would tolerate his antics. The combination of great hands, excellent footwork, and his ability to use his unreal speed to create separation with some of the best cornerbacks in the league, make him a deadly player. It can be confusing to some as to why a person would make excuses for Antonio Brown’s behavior. But when someone has a superstar like Brown on their team, the material benefit they get from watching him can profoundly impact their lives. The plays that make them stand up off their couch and call up their friends in excitement bring them joy. Antonio Brown could provide so much to a team and a fanbase, which is why they tolerated him for so long. However, in light of recent allegations of sexual assault, the New England Patriots finally drew the line and released him. Brown allegedly sexually assaulted and raped Britney Taylor, his former personal trainer. This, along with another sexual assault accusation and damning text messages from Brown, caused the Patriots to cut one of the most talented players in the league. However, this situation created some questions. Where does the NFL draw the line for players in these types of situations? Was one credible accusation not enough to suspend him? Why did Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger get a four-game suspension while Brown was threatened with indefinite suspension? Why does Patriots owner Robert Kraft recieve no punishment for his involvement in a prostitution scandal? Why does NFL commissioner Roger Godell decide these on a case by case basis? After his release from the Patriots, everyone will quickly want to forget about this ugly story and move on to normal football. But that is exactly why we can’t just forget about this—because Antonio Brown was a product of football culture, and his actions should make the NFL reconsider their own actions and policies. 

The rape allegations against Antonio Brown are credible and need to be taken seriously. On September 10th, there was a federal lawsuit filed, stating that Britney Taylor, a gymnast whom Brown met at Central Michigan, and later became his personal trainer, was sexually assaulted and raped by Brown. Along with these allegations were two damning emails released by Taylor, in which Brown bragged and joked about sexually harassing and raping her. While Brown and his lawyer obviously denied everything, the NFL launched an investigation into the matter and found the allegations “alarming.” It seemed questionable that the Patriots and the NFL would still let him play amidst all of the drama, but he did play against the Miami Dolphins, catching one touchdown from quarterback Tom Brady. A second sexual harassment accusation against Brown finally caused the Patriots to release him. These allegations, from an artist whom Brown brought to his house to paint a painting of him and whom he subsequently harassed, came with more incriminating evidence in the form of text messages. The thing is, why didn’t the NFL suspend him after the first set of allegations? They sounded extremely credible, not at all like a “money grab,” as Antonio Brown’s lawyer said. The fact that Britney Taylor knew that she would be harassed by angry fans and still came forward, and that the NFL knew this and didn’t act on it, is worrisome. But, the important part isn’t that Antonio Brown needs to be severely punished; the important part is that he likely raped a woman, and it’s being brushed off, while that woman’s whole life has been turned upside down.

The NFL’s inconsistency in their treatment of sexual assault allegations is troubling, and could be percieved as anti-blackness. In a now deleted tweet, Brown brought up white Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s own sexual assault allegations, tweeting “4 games for Big Ben crazy world I’m doone with it.” Roethlisberger, who allegedly sexually assaulted multiple women back in 2010, received only a four game suspension from the NFL. While both players allegedly committed the same crime, one person got a four game suspension, while the other was threatened with indefinite suspension and cut from his team. The most bothersome part of it all is that the NFL has no set rules for dealing with these cases; there weren’t any guidelines when Big Ben got four games; nor were there any rules guiding Antonio Brown’s punishment. At the end, there’s just one person’s judgement, Roger Goodell. When one person has enough power to decide the future of professional athletes, it creates an unhealthy environment for the league, and brings into question his and the league’s personal biases. Dave Zirin writes, “It’s a league that remains reactive on questions of domestic violence and sexual assault, more concerned with public relations than decency, and more caught up with optics than action.” The NFL needs to have policies on sexual assault and domestic violence, and to stop treating them on a case by case basis. Furthermore, they need to value fairness and equality over public image and money. If they were more concerned that their athletes were treated the same, whatever the color of their skin, and less concerned about protecting certain players, then they would make policies and enforce them. 

It isn’t hard to understand why the NFL has no hard rules regarding sexual assault—first, it’s usually murky and unclear whether the player in question actually did anything wrong, and to what degree; second, they value money and public relations more than consistency. While inconsistency may hurt their popularity with some fans, the majority of fans would rather watch a superstar like Antonio Brown play for their team. At the end of the day, in order for equal treatment of athletes and clear consequences for players’ actions to exist, there has to be policies. While punishment is obviously important to discourage players from inappropriate behavior, in Brown’s case, we should instead focus on the victim of sexual assault, Britney Taylor. She went through life-changing experiences that she had no control over. The emphasis should be on how can we help her recover from this experience and change our misogynistic football culture to prevent such experiences from happening again.