When the Patriots signed Antonio Brown, I immediately started to compare it to our Randy Moss acquisition in 2007. That acquisition led to the single greatest regular season in Patriots history. As a Pats fan, I couldn’t help but think that this big-name wide receiver signing was exactly the piece that the Patriots were missing. Brown served as a replacement for Gronk in the passing game- The single-player that was going to punch our tickets to Miami and an NFL-record seventh Super Bowl victory.

Unfortunately for Patriots fans, our fantasy-esque receiving core was torn apart less than three weeks into the season by claims of sexual assault, sexual misconduct, and leaked text messages from Brown himself. The Patriots essentially told Brown that they would keep his past in the past, but after it was revealed he sent those messages as a New England Patriot, Kraft and Belichick had to get rid of their problem-causing wideout.

Patriots haters and critics of the NFL love to point fingers at the controversy surrounding these players and the teams that sign them. In fact, an article published Monday in the New York Times begged the question “What does it say about the N.F.L. that they didn’t step in?” referring to the fact that Antonio Brown was allowed to play despite sexual assault allegations in the week two matchup against the Miami Dolphins. I’ll tell you why.

Brown’s accuser happened to bring these accusations to life at the very minute he was in the news. He had just signed a contract with the Patriots, after having a very public fallout with the Raiders. The entire summer NFL news cycle was circling with stories surrounding Brown, and this was its peak. The highly-touted, and arguably the best wide receiver in all of football signed with the reigning Superbowl champions, the dynasty among dynasties, the New England Patriots.

Believe it or not, I actually applaud commissioner Roger Goodell with how he handled this situation. He took a page out of NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s book and treated Brown’s accusation the same way the NBA treated Derrick Rose’s sexual assault accusation back in 2015. Don’t do anything yet, let the justice system run its course, and react based on its findings. I’m sure there was pressure on Goodell to place Brown on the exempt list and bar him from playing, but the commissioner did the right thing in allowing Brown to earn money while he still had the opportunity.

After the Patriots released Brown on Friday, he filled the weekend with a Twitter rant that almost guaranteed he wouldn’t be given the opportunity to lace up his cleats and play in the NFL ever again. He began by attacking prominent figures in the NFL who continue to thrive despite being accused (and possibly guilty of) sexual crimes similar to Brown’s (allegedly). The tweets, which have since been deleted, attacked Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and TV personality and Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe. Brown then tweeted that he was officially retiring from the NFL (as if anyone would sign him). https://twitter.com/AB84/status/1175764155359465478?s=20

In this tweet Brown referenced the nearly $40 million that was “guaranteed” in his contracts with the Raiders and Patriots that he will likely never see a penny of. On Monday, Brown announced that he would be returning to Central Michigan University to finish his college degree. Brown, who declared for the draft as a college junior, never got his diploma, and is probably looking to create a “good-guy” story in hopes that everyone will somehow forget the events of 2019. They won’t.