NFL will consider placing Antonio Brown on paid leave and making him ineligible to play The NFL will give serious consideration to placing Antonio Brown on paid leave via its commissioner’s exempt list, according to multiple people familiar with the situation, after he was accused in a federal lawsuit in Florida of rape and sexual assault.
The wide receiver would be ineligible to play for the New England Patriots if he’s placed on the exempt list by the league.
Placing Brown on the exempt list is “possible” and something that the NFL is “going to have to focus on,” said one of the people close to the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
The league is investigating the allegations but it’s unclear whether a decision about the exempt list will be made this week, before the Patriots are scheduled to play again. Brown has not been charged with a crime, so the NFL does not have to be concerned, at this point, about interfering with a criminal investigation. It is not clear yet if or when the league’s investigators will be able to arrange interviews with Brown’s accuser and other potential witnesses.
If the league opts to put Brown on paid leave, it also would have to decide under what conditions he would be permitted to come off the exempt list and how it would react, for example, to a prospective settlement of the lawsuit. Brown has denied the allegations through his attorney.
NFL leaders planned to meet Wednesday about the matter. The league potentially could allow Brown to begin playing for the Patriots while its investigation proceeds, and then place him on paid leave at some point if NFL officials believe that is warranted.
Brown was at the Patriots’ facility Wednesday with the expectation that he would participate in meetings and practice, ESPN reported.
He agreed to a one-year contract with the Patriots on Saturday, hours after being released by the Oakland Raiders. The team officially announced the signing Tuesday and Brown is to practice with the Patriots this week. He could play in their game Sunday at Miami, barring action by the NFL.
One women’s advocacy group, UltraViolet, called for the Patriots to “immediately cut” Brown.
“Time and again, the NFL has failed to address the near epidemic levels of sexual assault and violence within the league — and it is long past time that the NFL start to live up to the commitments that they have made to believe and support survivors of sexual violence,” Shaunna Thomas, the co-founder and executive director of UltraViolet, said in a written statement.
Brown denied the allegations through his attorney, Darren Heitner, who said that Brown believes he is the victim of “a money grab” by his accuser.
Brown could face punishment by the league under the personal conduct policy. The policy empowers the NFL to punish a player, if it believes after an investigation that disciplinary measures are warranted, even if the player is not charged with or convicted of a crime. Any suspension under the personal conduct policy is without pay. The NFL generally allows legal proceedings to play out before making a determination about a potential suspension.
The league also is empowered to take a player off the field while legal proceedings are pending, via the exempt list. The player is paid by his team while on the list but is ineligible to play.
The woman accusing Brown, Britney Taylor, is a former college classmate and a gymnast who worked with Brown as a trainer. In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, she accuses Brown of rape and sexual assault in three separate incidents in 2017 and 2018.
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