I’m going to take a break from my usual sarcastic satirical writing style on blogs and on Twitter to have a serious moment and discuss the rape allegations against Antonio Brown.

The low down: essentially, Antonio Brown allegedly raped Britney Taylor, a trainer he had asked to help him with his strength and conditioning program back in 2017. Brown allegedly assaulted Taylor on three separate occasions: once by [allegedly] forcibly kissing her in 2017, once by [allegedly] ejaculating on her back a month later, and finally by [allegedly] raping her in 2018.

Taylor claims she cut off ties with Brown after the second incident, but after an apparently heartfelt apology phone call from Brown, she agreed to work with him again, which was when the third incident allegedly took place.

I could go into further detail covering the case, but it’s already being widely covered by literally every sports reporting website out there. Instead, I’m going to offer my thoughts on this alleged rape and the lawsuit that follows.

Do I believe Britney Taylor’s rape accusation?

Look, if this is a money grab as Antonio Brown is claiming it to be, Britney Taylor picked the perfect person and timing to allege rape. Personally, I don’t think this is the case. Based on what I’ve seen already, it appears to me that Brown knew he was being accused of rape before any of his off-field antics were revealed to us on social media over the football offseason.

Between the frostbite incident, the helmet incident and then the Raiders incident(s), the first I heard about any of these incidents was in August. There have been emails Brown allegedly sent to Taylor, released to the public dated back in June, which appear to show Brown having knowledge of at least the accusations.

To me, it looks like Brown’s antics preceded the football ones we’ve all been hearing about the past few months. This makes me think Taylor isn’t just making it up, and that these allegations have been going on for quite some time.

I know what most of you will be thinking by now. I’m a girl, probably a feminist, and I’m going to side with the accuser no matter what. I’m not going to lie– I am inclined to side with alleged rape victims. But I can also acknowledge the difficulties athletes face any time he even interacts with a female. False rape accusations are statistically irrelevant compared to the amount of national attention they receive, and it’s unfair to meet every accusation with such finality based on that thought. That being said, false accusations do happen, and each one damages the fight against rape culture to astronomical degrees, as portrayed largely through high-profile accusations and allegations such as these.

Why did she “let him” continue?

This is something else I wanted to discuss. I was listening to the Cousins on Barstool Radio on my morning commute today, and one of the cousins asked the question something along the lines of: if she’s been [allegedly] assaulted THREE TIMES, why didn’t she cut things off after the FIRST TIME? Why did she “let him” [allegedly] assault her twice more?

I don’t think whichever cousin said this meant for it to come off as harmful as it did. But I have some words. First of all, it appears she did cut things off after the second alleged assault, but forgave him after a seemingly heartfelt apology. Second of all, this cousin does not understand what it’s like to be a woman in sports.

Here’s where it gets personal.
I’ve been sexually harassed and assaulted more times than I can count working in sports. Honestly? It’s usually from a colleague or a fan, not so much an athlete. But in Taylor’s situation, that’s what Brown was: a colleague.

But can I cry and complain after each time? Sure I can–if I want to be blacklisted from any other organization or never taken seriously again in the sports industry. (And this goes back to those “false accusation” bits I was mentioning earlier.) If one of my colleagues or a supervisor makes a pass at me, there’s very little I can do if I want to keep my job. A comment here or there, inviting me out for drinks afterwards and making a pass, etc., these are all things people expect me to just suck up and deal. But if I make it a big deal, they find other ways to fire me. “She wasn’t a team player.” “She didn’t work hard enough.” “She made excuses.” All while I was a team player, worked my ass off harder than anyone else there, and the ‘excuses’ they’d be referring to would be the sexual harassment I was enduring.

Unfortunately, this is how it is for women in sports. I have been denied interviews with athletes because I denied their agents when they (the agents) tried sleeping with me. I save every conversation I have with men in the sports industry who harass me or text me inappropriate things. This is because I know they’re capable of blacklisting me and preventing me from gaining ahead in my career.

Cousin whoever you are, this is why women in sports put up with a certain degree of harassment in the industry. I wish it wasn’t the case, I truly do. Personally, I’ll put up with the jokes and the snickers and comments about my breasts in order to keep my job, but everyone has a line that, when crossed, isn’t worth staying anymore. But if I quit every time a drunk colleague made a pass at me, or someone put their hand on my leg, or tried to kiss me, I wouldn’t be working in sports anymore.

On another personal note, I would like to thank all the men in the industry who have treated me with the utmost respect and have stood up for me when they witnessed such harassment. I don’t like to complain about the bad and not be grateful for the good.

In conclusion,
I personally believe Britney Taylor’s allegations of assault. I believe there’s more to the story than we have at our fingertips. And I believe Taylor is going to go through so much scrutiny that it’s going to be unfair, and incredibly difficult. Regardless of the outcome of these allegations, let’s try to hold an open mind as more information becomes available to us.