Antonio Brown Held Hostage

It's been five months since Antonio Brown was dropped by the Patriots after accusations of sexual assault and rape were made against the receiver in a civil lawsuit. Five months, and still no decision from the NFL on discipline.

Where is due process? Where is the right to a speedy trial?

Brown and the league met for over eight hours to get his side of the story in November. November. What is going on?

Unfortunately, it's another case of Roger Goodell blackballing. No it didn't take collusion with owners this time, like Kaepernick alleges took place in his case. In a league where Goodell is  judge, jury and executioner this time he saw that what's best for business would be to do nothing.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Since Brown was no longer on a team the threat of putting him on the commissioners exempt list was enough to keep teams away and let the issue devolve into another tabloid drama. No need to worry over whether the media would view Brown's punishment as too harsh or too lenient. Just the threat of future action was enough to keep him out of the league.

Antonio Brown is a man in limbo. I've never heard of limbo as a good place for someone struggling with mental health issues. It's anxiety inducing. It's maddening. For a league that purports to prioritize the mental health of its players, its do-nothing approach reeks of putting business interests before player health.

"We want to help get him on the right track. We want to work to do that. That's the first step," Goodell told reporters before the Super Bowl back in January.

Sure you do Roger. Now you do Roger. Now that the season is over and Brown has begun an apology tour the league can finally address the issue on its terms in the off-season. But when the PR was bad and making a decision on discipline would have been difficult, the league abdicated.

In the meantime, Brown went from making a complete fool of himself on social media to appearing in court after arrest in a suicide prevention vest and having his partner, children and agent leave him. ESPN's Adam Schefter, who has sources everywhere, says Brown is unlikely to get a chance to play in the NFL again.

On one hand Brown is a grown man. He is not the league's responsibility or property. His issues are his own. On the other, it is obvious the man has some combination of serious character flaws and mental health issues, maybe even CTE.

This is no longer something to laugh at. No more clown emoji's commenting on AB's social media posts. Things could have very easily been worse with Brown and others seriously hurt or dead. It still could happen.

At this point Antonio Brown doesn't deserve our ire and he doesn't deserve our fury. He deserves our concern. Step one is for the NFL to release the hostage. Stop amplifying his anxiety. Whatever you think of Brown's behavior, this is the United States. We don't leave people in judicial limbo. Maybe he's banned for life, maybe it's a few games, maybe it's a year, but it's time for a decision.

So make one, Roger.