Antonio Brown has resolved a civil dispute with his former trainer Britney Taylor, who had accused Brown in a lawsuit filed in September 2019 of sexually assaulting her on three occasions. The two sides have reached a settlement, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
"Antonio and Britney have been friends over a decade. Several years ago they almost became business partners. Recently, they were involved in aggressive litigation. Having reflected on their relationship, both feel that the time has come to move on," Brown's representative, Alana Burstyn, and Taylor's attorney, David Haas, said in separate statements. "Antonio is grateful for Britney's excellent training assistance. They are pleased that Antonio is doing so well with the Bucs and has a ring. Their dispute is resolved and they wish each other great continued success."
Taylor had alleged in the civil lawsuit that Brown sexually assaulted her on two training trips in June 2017 and then raped her in Miami in May 2018.
Taylor met with the league in September 2019 to discuss her allegations against Brown. The NFL is still investigating Brown, who is subject to punishment under the league's personal-conduct policy.
The WR was suspended for the first eight games of the 2020 season for multiple violations of the league's personal-conduct policy unrelated to Taylor's accusations. His ban stemmed from a no contest plea to burglary and battery charges from a January 2020 incident in Florida, and accusations he sent intimidating texts to a woman who accused the receiver of making past unwanted advances toward her.
Brown, 32, was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in late October last season as his suspension was winding down. He played in 11 total games (eight regular-season and three postseason) for Tampa Bay, logging 53 catches for 564 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns. Brown tallied five catches for 22 yards and a TD in Tampa Bay's Super Bowl LV win.
He is currently a free agent.
Asked Wednesday about the possibility of re-signing Brown, Bucs general manager Jason Licht said the resolution of the receiver's civil dispute "helps, but that's not necessarily the deciding factor of whether or not we're going to continue to talk."
"We've had discussion throughout the offseason," Licht said, "and as you can tell, we've put an emphasis on bringing back players, our players from last year that contributed to our success. He would be no different.
"We'll continue to have talks and we'll see how it goes."
