This is the Morning Win. Nate Scott is filling in for Andy Nesbitt today.
Antonio Brown’s 8-game suspension from the NFL is over, and fans and writers around the league have taken to wondering where, exactly, he could fit in. The Seahawks? Somewhere else?
After Brown shocked the football world by signing with the New England Patriots last year, we can’t help but wonder: What team will make the headline-grabbing signing this time?
This isn’t the same situation, however. The question we should be asking ourselves is not: What team will Antonio Brown be signing for? It’s: Should the NFL want to be in the business of Antonio Brown?
It’s easy to forget what with every other thing happening in the nightmare of a world we live in right now, but Brown was cut by the Patriots and suspended by the league in the midst of an investigation into accusations of sexual assault made by an artist who was working in his home in 2017.
Brown was also charged with felony burglary with a battery charged, to which he pleaded no contest, after an incident with a moving company at his home in Florida.
Brown completed his punishment, and the league (I imagine) considers the matter finished. Brown is most likely still a talented wide receiver who could perhaps be a game-changer for a team looking to make a run at a Super Bowl. He still has friends in the league — even after everything, Tom Brady, for example, still defended Brown publicly.
Maybe it’s as simple as that. Maybe Brown has learned his lessons, served his punishment, and should be allowed back into the league. I can’t speak to the man’s heart.
What I do know is true is that the thing that matters above all else in the NFL is optics. If Brown can sign without a public outcry, he’ll play. If there is a public outcry, he won’t. That’s the only thing, most likely, that matters here to the NFL.
Quick hits: Chris Pratt, Trevor Lawrence, and more
– Our own Hemal Jhaveri explained why the internet has finally turned on Chris Pratt.
– We looked at the future of Trevor Lawrence, and concluded that even the terrible Jets won’t convince him to stay in college.
– This delightful World Series fan caught a home run, then threw his glove onto the field. Why? We have no idea.