At a Crossroads

Take a good look at this photo, you won't be seeing this again...

The New England Patriots released wide receiver Antonio Brown after one game once a SI report was released earlier on Friday. To say that bringing him in after his sudden release from the Oakland Raiders (after he was traded from Pittsburgh) as shortsighted is saying something, but the collective grasp from social media echoes the near disgust of him being signed in Foxboro to begin with. Brown has had a very mercurial 12 months, and as a result it leaves him off his third team in that same time.

The Patriots will be just fine, thank you. This organization has been known to take guys like Randy Moss, Corey Dillon and more recently Josh Gordon into their fold, becoming productive players and model citizens. However, there are some incidents that even the Hoodie can't ignore, and those text messages sent by Brown might have been the straw that broke the camel's back. They are still the favorite in the AFC, and now will be commended for reversing course on an action that should have probably not occurred. More than likely the Hoodie will give a quick, smug answer to reporters and then say, "We're moving on to New York."

It's Brown that is the bigger concern here. His antics have made him persona non grata throughout the league, and at this point a team will be hard pressed to gloss over this story just because he can run a go-route with the best of them. Maybe it will break him to the point of humility, or maybe it will make him even more defiant. Whatever happens from here, one can only hope that the young man from Liberty City, Florida will get back to being that hard worker that made him such a wonderful story to begin with.

This isn't about revitalizing a career, but about getting his personal life back on track. Whether you believe his accusers is irrelevant, what does matter is that the last thing Brown needs to focus on is what type of helmet he can wear. He better make sure that the next uniform he wears isn't an orange jumpsuit...

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