Nike drops Antonio Brown

“Antonio Brown is not a Nike athlete,” a spokesman for the shoe company told the Boston Globe on Wednesday night.

Brown was accused of rape in a civil lawsuit last week. Other sponsors had dropped the Patriots wide receiver before the rape allegation, including Campbell’s, Pizza Hut and Facebook. Helmet manufacturer Xenith, who Brown had settled on after skipping Raiders workouts while seeking an NFL-approved helmet, dropped Brown on Sept. 13, three days after the suit was filed.

Both the lawsuit and recent reporting depict the business of being Antonio Brown as an utter mess. The Patriots wide receiver has problems with both the money that’s contracted to come in and go out.

“He was also having trouble balancing the responsibilities he had arising out of his many endorsement deals, including with Campbell’s Soup, Nike, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, AT&T/DirecTV, and Rite Aid, among others. He showed up late to events he was required to attend for those sponsors or otherwise failed to hold up his contractual obligations,” the lawsuit filed by Brown’s alleged victim, Britney Taylor states.

It’s in that context that Taylor says that Brown began relying on her to make sure he showed up on time for corporate events.

As Brown loses income as a contractor himself, he’s facing several lawsuits for refusing to pay people he hired. Those include multiple trainers, a chef, and someone who sold him a piranha, at least one charity and an artist. The artist also says that Brown walked up behind her “butt-ass naked.”