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Antonio Brown: Disgraced wide receiver has bigger issues than football

Maybe now, finally, Antonio Brown will see himself for what he is: A person in need of serious help. Brown’s bizarre behavior, which led to his abrupt release from the New England Patriots on Friday, is seemingly a symptom of deep issues requiring professional treatment. I mean, no one in their right mind would engage in the manner that has been alleged and demonstrated by Brown in a series of episodes that may ultimately cost him his career . Who sets $30 million on fire – the guaranteed cash that Brown was set to receive from the Oakland Raiders before the whole deal went up in smoke – that could have secured a measure of generational wealth that most people can only dream of achieving? Never mind that narrative that Brown played the rest of us for suckers and somehow crafted his exit from the Raiders in order to sign with Bill Belichick’s empire. That’s giving him too much credit. Instead, just process the events since Brown’s solid debut with the Patriots last weekend. After Sports Illustrated revealed a second woman alleged that Brown engaged in sexual misconduct – following heinous allegations, including rape, that formed the basis of a civil lawsuit by his former trainer, Britney Taylor , and sparked an NFL investigation to determine whether he violated the league’s personal conduct policy – Brown went after her with a vengeful text-message rant that was essentially his TMZ video moment. Here Brown was, in real-time, responding to the woman’s decision to tell her story to SI , with the type of intimidating, demeaning harangue that supported the characterizations of his alleged behavior – bolstered by enablers -- that are at the heart of his issues. What type of person, knowing scrutiny had intensified with an NFL investigation, would dare cross another line? Someone, I suspect, who completely misses – or chooses to ignore – how his actions fit into the bigger picture. Brown, though, connected the dots, with one sorry pushback against the woman (with the text messages apparently authenticated by SI as coming from his phone) when he needed to reflect on his own actions. Perhaps without football, Brown will seek the help apparently needed to get his life in order. This is a wakeup call that he needs to answer. For himself. For his five children. JONES: Tarnished reps will follow Antonio Brown, Patriots BRENNAN: NFL teams have been warned ARMOUR: Brown is to blame for destroying his NFL career Of course, the first step is for a person to acknowledge that they are having a problem. As it stands now, Brown’s apparent delusions and inability to contain his impulses have done much to torch his reputation and career – maybe to the extent that he’ll never play for another NFL team. Then again, forget football. Never mind his look-at-me videos and social media posts that in many ways can be interpreted as a cry for help. As easy as it is for so many to consider Brown’s actions as merely a bad character, to mock him as a spoiled fool or something of that nature that may be undeserving of sympathy that should be showered on alleged victims, it’s not as simple as that. I won’t pretend to know the roots of Brown’s issues, but common sense suggests that whatever is going on with Brown began a long time ago . Football, though, with Brown’s brilliance on the field, may have been an enabler of a different sort that allowed him to add layers to the issues that have doomed him. But now even football is gone ... while alleged victims are coping, too. Shortly after Brown’s release, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll effectively said that agent Drew Rosenhaus need not call while shopping Brown. After Brown’s release from the Oakland Raiders, the Seahawks were interested. Not now. Similarly, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, with the need for receiving help, is passing on Brown. Generally, talent buys second, third and fourth chances in an NFL where kneeling during the national anthem as Colin Kaepernick did won’t even warrant a tryout. But Brown, whose saga with the Pittsburgh Steelers seems so distant – but it was only months ago when it ended – is more toxic than Kaepernick because, well, he’s not standing on any type of high moral ground. The Patriots gave it a shot after Brown’s exit from Oakland, and it lasted all of 11 days. Whatever support they pledged or intended for Brown, envisioned as a centerpiece for another potential Super Bowl crown, had a tolerance line. You know, the Patriot Way. I’m guessing that Bill Belichick or Robert Kraft told Brown upon his arrival that if there were other incidents beyond the stuff he brought with him – and that’s assuming the Patriots knew about the prospects for the civil suit Taylor filed on the Tuesday his signing with the team became official – then they’d cut it off. Typical of the NFL culture that uses and discards, their commitment to him only went so far. Because we all knew when they signed him that he had issues to deal with. Still, this is largely on Brown, who landed in New England with ideal conditions: A defending Super Bowl champion favored to win it again. A star quarterback, Tom Brady, who was not only eager to put in extra hours teaching Brown the playbook but was willing (at least initially) to let him stay at his estate. Support from a team owner, Kraft, who is the subject of his own seedy allegations and was willing to embrace Brown. A Belichick-designed cocoon with the organizational insulation that would conceivably help Brown avoid certain threats ... like the media. After his debut in Miami, Brown wasn’t even available to reporters after the game – a violation of NFL media policy. The Patriots finally put him at a podium for four questions (no comment about the investigation or freshest allegations) in mid-week. For all of that, Brown, aka @AB84, still couldn’t help himself from going after the second accuser. Who in their right mind throws away what was there to be salvaged with the Patriots ... after the turbulent exits from Oakland and Pittsburgh Nobody in their right mind. The NFL issued a statement after Brown’s release declaring that he would not be placed on the Commissioner-Exempt list while not with a team, and that the investigation will continue that could lead to discipline under the conduct policy. Well, the exempt list is pretty much a moot point. Here’s to hoping the NFL doesn’t wait until Brown signs with a team – which may never happen -- to act on its policy. That means interviewing Brown, completing its investigation and determining not only discipline but perhaps more importantly, prescribing the counseling and treatment that you’d hope would be even more of a game-changer than a lengthy suspension. Then again, Brown shouldn’t leave it up to the NFL as a condition for possibly playing again. It’s on him ... to get help now.