NFL investigating Antonio Brown incident as more details emerge
The incident report from the receiver’s January domestic dispute was made public on Wednesday and the NFL has taken notice.
Antonio Brown’s tumultuous year has seemingly hit a new low.
Yesterday, TMZ.com broke the news that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown was “involved in a domestic dispute,” at his Hollywood, Florida home in January. Brown was not arrested, but the site did not have any further information. A day later, and more details are emerging.
On Wednesday morning, Andy Slater of South Florida radio station 640 The Hurricane obtained and released the incident report compiled by the Hollywood Police Department. In it, Brown is accused of pushing the mother of his child to the ground after arguing about paying for the child’s hair appointment. Brown repeatedly asked the woman to leave and the alleged altercation occurred when she refused. No charges were filed, but it is certainly a situation that the NFL will want to closely monitor.
That was confirmed to FanSided by a league spokesperson on Wednesday who said that the NFL is “looking into the matter.” No charges were ever filed in connection with the incident, something reiterated in a statement Brown’s attorney, Darren Heitner, released to ESPN’s Josina Anderson on Wednesday. But while that may be true, that doesn’t prevent the NFL from looking into the matter themselves and determining whether or not discipline will come of it.
This also isn’t the first time that Brown has been connected with dangerous or erratic behavior. In August, Brown was named in a lawsuit alleging that the receiver threw furniture off of his 14th floor balcony, nearly striking the plaintiff’s then-22-month-old son. The NFL said then, via a spokesperson, that, “We are aware of and will continue to monitor the civil suits.”
Brown also took to Twitter in September to threaten ESPN’s The Undefeated writer Jesse Washington after apparently taking issue to a feature Washington had written about him. In the (since-deleted) Tweet, Brown threatened to break Washington’s jaw. Brown issued an apology to Washington via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a week later.
And in November, Brown was cited by Ross Township police for driving over 100 miles per hour in the Pittsburgh suburb, just hours before the Steelers were set to host the Carolina Panthers in a Thursday night game. He was charged with reckless driving.
This pattern of behavior (and alleged behavior) means that the league, or even the Steelers, could act by either suspending or fining Brown, or the team finally giving up on him and trading him away. But distressing incidents keep piling up, which certainly affects the Steelers’ ability to find a willing trade partner.
With Brown set to earn $12.625 million in base salary in 2019 (and under contract until the end of the 2021 season), potential suitors could start to be put off by the red flags that have been piling up. Trading for a troubled player, even one as talented as Brown, for such a hefty price tag may interest fewer and fewer teams.
The Steelers may find themselves stuck with Brown, whether they want him or not.