Antonio Brown Suspended

[RiverDog]

This seems weird as hell:

Antonio Brown is among three players suspended for "misrepresenting" their vaccination status. One NFL insider reports that Brown was found to have used a fake COVID vaccination card. Brown's agent insists Brown is vaccinated, but he will not appeal the suspension.

Brown's former chef told the Tampa Bay Times in November that Brown had obtained a fake COVID-19 card over the summer before the Buccaneer's training camp started.

Rapoport on Thursday said that Brown did indeed have a fake vaccine card.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nf ... cid=msnews

So who's lying? Is Brown vaccinated or not? If he is, indeed, vaccinated, then it would be very easy to prove it by producing the same card they gave the rest of us, so why aren't they challenging the suspension?

[obiken]

So who's lying? Is Brown vaccinated or not? If he is, indeed, vaccinated, then it would be very easy to prove it by producing the same card they gave the rest of us, so why aren't they challenging the suspension?

My Issue River, is why didnt they suspend Aaron Rogers for not vaxing and then lying about it. Its either racism or a double standard.

[RiverDog]

My Issue River, is why didnt they suspend Aaron Rogers for not vaxing and then lying about it. Its either racism or a double standard.

I can't answer that right now as the story just broke. Rodgers was disciplined according to an agreement the league had reached with the union, at least the part about violating the protocols for unvaccinated players. Faking a vaccination card is a federal offense, so that might be the difference.

But if there is a double standard, I wouldn't accuse the league of racism, rather stardom or drawing power. Rodgers is more of a star than Brown and will attract a larger viewing audience.

[trents]

No, not racism. I realize that's a popular resort these days but I see no reason to go there in this situation. Rogers deceived. Brown committed fraud.

[NorthHawk]

According to PFT, Rodgers wasn’t suspended because he didn’t lie to the league.
Brown et al did apparently.
What makes Browns actions so stupid is he could have just said he wasn’t vaccinated, but he tried
to play games and now he’s paying the price.

[RiverDog]

According to PFT, Rodgers wasn’t suspended because he didn’t lie to the league. Brown et al did apparently.

What makes Browns actions so stupid is he could have just said he wasn’t vaccinated, but he tried to play games and now he’s paying the price.

So in other words, his lawyer is lying? I'd be shocked if I found out that a lawyer had lied.

But seriously, there has to be some sort of law or standard that Brown's lawyer must be subject to if he's making provably false statements in an effort to aid his client. From the American Bar Association's website:

Transactions With Persons Other Than Clients

In the course of representing a client a lawyer shall not knowingly:

(a) make a false statement of material fact or law to a third person; or

(b) fail to disclose a material fact to a third person when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or fraudulent act by a client, unless disclosure is prohibited by Rule 1.6.

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/prof ... to_others/

[RiverDog]

No, not racism. I realize that's a popular resort these days but I see no reason to go there in this situation. Rogers deceived. Brown committed fraud.

I agree. Although I personally feel that Rodgers should have received at least a one game suspension due to a violation of the Personal Conduct Policy by his lying to the press and the public, he didn't do anything wrong other than violate the Covid protocols, of which an agreement with the union exists that lays out the discipline the league must follow.

Brown, on the other hand, along with several other players that were suspended, lied to the league about his vaccination status. If Brown obtained a fake vaccination card, he could also be in trouble with the feds and could get another suspension via the Personal Conduct Policy. I'm pretty sure that the league has an obligation to turn over any evidence they come across of a crime having been committed to law enforcement.

And to think that this is the same Antonio Brown that Russell once lobbied our FO to sign.

The other elephant in the room is Arians and the Bucs claim that Brown was vaccinated. As recent as 2 weeks ago, Bruce Arians claimed that "He (Brown) says he is vaccinated and he has a card just like everybody else on our football team," Arians said on the show. "There's a trust factor that goes along with it. We did our due diligence, the league will look into the matter and do their due diligence. It's really no story."

[Hawktawk]

Rodger was allowed to flaunt team and league protocols despite them knowing he was deceiving the public ,no masks while in team facilities, traveling with the team instead of alone etc. It violated the spirit and intention of every rule the league made. Last year teams were fined nearly a million dollars and fined 6th round draft picks for far lesser violations. Its utter horsesh@t, another case of favoritism of a star player and a foundational franchise by the league. Its a joke. They have no credibility.

[RiverDog]

Rodger was allowed to flaunt team and league protocols despite them knowing he was deceiving the public ,no masks while in team facilities, traveling with the team instead of alone etc. It violated the spirit and intention of every rule the league made. Last year teams were fined nearly a million dollars and fined 6th round draft picks for far lesser violations. Its utter horsesh@t, another case of favoritism of a star player and a foundational franchise by the league. Its a joke. They have no credibility.

I tend to agree with that, but there's clearly a difference between Rodgers' misdeeds and those of Brown's, with the latter's being much more serious.

This is going to be interesting. Based on Arians' statements from a couple weeks ago, Brown had presented a card stating he was vaccinated, so someone on the Bucs' staff was either lying or incompetent. It would seem that discipline for the Bucs would be appropriate as well.

[c_hawkbob]

According to PFT, Rodgers wasn’t suspended because he didn’t lie to the league.
Brown et al did apparently.
What makes Browns actions so stupid is he could have just said he wasn’t vaccinated, but he tried
to play games and now he’s paying the price.

Rogers could have just said he wasn't vaccinated too. Saying he didn't "lie" to the league (and the rest of the world) is seriously hanging your hat on the flimsiest of technicalities. Other that the fact that AB went so far as to get that fake vaccination card the lie was the same. Now yes, a fake vaccination card a much worse violation but is one that should be dealt with separately from the "lie" they're using to separate the two.

[Hawktawk]

Point being Rodgers was maskless in pressers and in the facility and more important was allowed to fly with the team. Its hair splitting and semantics to say he committed less of an offense. He endangered people. The league didn't want to see Reggie Love vs Seattle after seeing him vs KC. it was about ratings and $$$$ Had to make the call quick . Little did they know Reggie Love would have looked like Bart Starr compared to Russ.

I BUY 0% OF ANY OF IT

[NorthHawk]

Rodgers lied to us, but he didn't lie to the league. That's the point.
That he wasn't disciplined for violating league rules for being maskless is quite another question and I think the NFL has stated that they left it up
to teams to make those types of calls and penalize players.

[c_hawkbob]

Rodgers lied to us, but he didn't lie to the league. That's the point.
That he wasn't disciplined for violating league rules for being maskless is quite another question and I think the NFL has stated that they left it up
to teams to make those types of calls and penalize players.

How can you say he didn't lie to the league? Because he told them he was "immunized" instead?

He obviously mislead the league as he was allowed to fly and attend pressers unmasked which indicates the league bought his "immunized" as interchangeable with "vaccinated". You as much as anyone are buying into the infinitesimal difference between technically lying and intentionally misleading.

Rogers, on the account of "lying" is every inch as guilty as Brown! The ONLY discernable difference in reality being the faked immunization card.

[NorthHawk]

He didn't lie to the league was the NFL's reason for not suspending him. Who knows what he actually said to them?
He may have told them he wasn't vaccinated and told the rest of us he was immunized. We don't really know the actual words to the NFL.

[RiverDog]

Rodgers lied to us, but he didn't lie to the league. That's the point.
That he wasn't disciplined for violating league rules for being maskless is quite another question and I think the NFL has stated that they left it up
to teams to make those types of calls and penalize players.

How can you say he didn't lie to the league? Because he told them he was "immunized" instead? He obviously mislead the league as he was allowed to fly and attend pressers unmasked which indicates the league bought his "immunized" as interchangeable with "vaccinated". You as much as anyone are buying into the infinitesimal difference between technically lying and intentionally misleading.

Rogers, on the account of "lying" is every inch as guilty as Brown! The ONLY discernable difference in reality being the faked immunization card.

Rodgers didn't misrepresent his vaccination status to the team/league. He told the team that he wasn't vaxxed. The people he lied to was the press and the public. IMO the team should have been disciplined much heavier than they were for letting Rodgers violate the protocols and Rodgers for "conduct detrimental to the league", ie the Personal Conduct Policy, by lying about his status to the public and his flagrant disregard for league and union agreed upon protocols, but that's just me.

Brown DID misrepresent his vaccination status by apparently producing a phony vaccination card. That's the difference.

[c_hawkbob]

Rodgers didn't misrepresent his vaccination status to the team/league. He told the team that he wasn't vaxxed. The people he lied to was the press and the public. IMO the team should have been disciplined much heavier than they were for letting Rodgers violate the protocols and Rodgers for "conduct detrimental to the league", ie the Personal Conduct Policy, by lying about his status to the public and his flagrant disregard for league and union agreed upon protocols, but that's just me.

Brown DID misrepresent his vaccination status by apparently producing a phony vaccination card. That's the difference.

Are you certain of that? I do not believe that to be the case. I think that's just the team and the league putting as pretty a shine on that turd as possible to get out of having to discipline it's mega-star.

[trents]

Point being Rodgers was maskless in pressers and in the facility and more important was allowed to fly with the team. Its hair splitting and semantics to say he committed less of an offense. He endangered people. The league didn't want to see Reggie Love vs Seattle after seeing him vs KC. it was about ratings and $$$$ Had to make the call quick . Little did they know Reggie Love would have looked like Bart Starr compared to Russ.

I BUY 0% OF ANY OF IT

Do you mean Jordan Love?

[NorthHawk]

Are you certain of that? I do not believe that to be the case. I think that's just the team and the league putting as pretty a shine on that turd as possible to get out of having to discipline it's mega-star.

That's what I've read/heard.
Remember that the league is run by lawyers so mincing words is their life and we can't expect a yes or no answer if it might put a tarnish on the league.

[RiverDog]

Rodgers didn't misrepresent his vaccination status to the team/league. He told the team that he wasn't vaxxed. The people he lied to was the press and the public. IMO the team should have been disciplined much heavier than they were for letting Rodgers violate the protocols and Rodgers for "conduct detrimental to the league", ie the Personal Conduct Policy, by lying about his status to the public and his flagrant disregard for league and union agreed upon protocols, but that's just me.

Brown DID misrepresent his vaccination status by apparently producing a phony vaccination card. That's the difference.

Are you certain of that? I do not believe that to be the case. I think that's just the team and the league putting as pretty a shine on that turd as possible to get out of having to discipline it's mega-star.

If Brown did not misrepresent his vaccination status, don't you think that he would have appealed the suspension? It's costing him a cool $1 million.

As far as whether or not Brown produced a phony card, or some other type of forged document, I don't know how else he's going to "misrepresent" being vaccinated. Do you?

[c_hawkbob]

Rodgers didn't misrepresent his vaccination status to the team/league. He told the team that he wasn't vaxxed. The people he lied to was the press and the public. IMO the team should have been disciplined much heavier than they were for letting Rodgers violate the protocols and Rodgers for "conduct detrimental to the league", ie the Personal Conduct Policy, by lying about his status to the public and his flagrant disregard for league and union agreed upon protocols, but that's just me.

Brown DID misrepresent his vaccination status by apparently producing a phony vaccination card. That's the difference.

Are you certain of that? I do not believe that to be the case. I think that's just the team and the league putting as pretty a shine on that turd as possible to get out of having to discipline it's mega-star.

If Brown did not misrepresent his vaccination status, don't you think that he would have appealed the suspension? It's costing him a cool $1 million.

As far as whether or not he produced a phony card, I don't know how else he's going to "misrepresent" being vaccinated. Do you?

I'm questioning your contention that Rogers didn't misrepresent his vaccination status to the league/team. I know Brown did.

[RiverDog]

I'm questioning your contention that Rogers didn't misrepresent his vaccination status to the league/team. I know Brown did.

That wasn't apparent, but thanks for clearing that up.

Perhaps this will answer your question. From PFT:

Brown misrepresented his status to the Buccaneers and, in turn, the NFL. In contrast, the Packers and the NFL at all times knew that Rodgers was not vaccinated.”

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... he-league/

[obiken]

No, not racism. I realize that's a popular resort these days but I see no reason to go there in this situation. Rogers deceived. Brown committed fraud.

I agree Trents but a double standard to the Max! AR straight up lied! However, hes a star QB and AB is an aging WR.

[c_hawkbob]

I'm questioning your contention that Rogers didn't misrepresent his vaccination status to the league/team. I know Brown did.

That wasn't apparent, but thanks for clearing that up.

Perhaps this will answer your question. From PFT:

Brown misrepresented his status to the Buccaneers and, in turn, the NFL. In contrast, the Packers and the NFL at all times knew that Rodgers was not vaccinated.”

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... he-league/

If you'll notice I put the person I was referring to in my initial remark in Bold, indicating that the question was about Rogers.

Nevertheless, thanks for the link, I had not seen that, and it was other than had been initially reported (even by PFT).

[obiken]

Brown misrepresented his status to the Buccaneers and, in turn, the NFL. In contrast, the Packers and the NFL at all times knew that
If you'll notice I put the person I was referring to in my initial remark in Bold, indicating that the question was about Rogers.

Nevertheless, thanks for the link, I had not seen that, and it was other than had been initially reported (even by PFT).

Oh okay I get it, IF you lie to the league your doomed, if you just lie to the fans and players your fine! Kind of like telling your wife she just sucked on my weenie, but there was no sex!

[RiverDog]

Oh okay I get it, IF you lie to the league your doomed, if you just lie to the fans and players your fine! Kind of like telling your wife she just sucked on my weenie, but there was no sex!

Nice analogy, Obi!

I agree with you that Rodgers should have been disciplined more severely than they did, and not only because he was lying to the press and the fans. He was defiant, intentionally disregarding the protocols, and in doing so, brought a lot of unwanted attention to the league. IMO he should have gotten at least a one game suspension.

But using Brown as evidence of a double standard just doesn't work. What Rodgers did was unethical, lying to the press/fans. What Brown did was illegal, forging a federal document, and he'll be damn lucky if he's not hauled into court. There's no way the league can let an illegal act slide with a Rodgers-like slap on the wrists.

[Hawktawk]

[quote="trents"]Point being Rodgers was maskless in pressers and in the facility and more important was allowed to fly with the team. Its hair splitting and semantics to say he committed less of an offense. He endangered people. The league didn't want to see [b]Reggie[/b] Love vs Seattle after seeing him vs KC. it was about ratings and $$$$ Had to make the call quick . Little did they know [b]Reggie[/b] Love would have looked like Bart Starr compared to Russ.

I BUY 0% OF ANY OF IT

Do you mean Jordan Love?[/quote]
Lmao yes . I don’t even know who Reggie love is but he would have looked like Bart Starr vs Russ too

[Aseahawkfan]

Because Antonio Brown has been suspended before and is an easy target for the league look like they are getting tough on vaccination liars. Whereas Rodgers is a perennial MVP candidate, one of the best QBs in the league, and makes Green Bay non-competitive if he can't play and lowers TV ratings if he can't play.