Brown received the suspension for multiple violations of the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Free-agent wide receiver Antonio Brown has received an eight-game suspension for multiple violations of the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Brown may sign with any team in free agency and would be eligible to participate in a club's preseason activities. His suspension would go into effect on Sept. 5, and he could return after a team's eighth game.
The suspension comes after a moving truck battery case earlier this year involving Brown. In June, Brown pled no contest to charges related to the case after changing his plea from not guilty. In the alleged incident, Brown was accused of refusing to pay a $4,000 moving fee for a company that was delivering his items to Florida from his California home. The driver claimed Brown threw a rock at the moving truck and assaulted him. Glenn Holt, Brown's trainer, also allegedly attacked the driver.
A judge sentenced Brown to two years of probation, ordered him to undergo a psychological evaluation and to take a 13-week anger management course. He must do 100 hours of community service and has been ordered to stay away from the two victims.
Brown missed most of the 2019 season after New England released him in September, and he has repeatedly stated his desire to return to the NFL. Now, he will miss half of the 2020 season under the suspension.
The NFL opened an investigation into Brown after his former trainer Britney Taylor accused him of rape and sexual assault last year. In Septemeber 2019, Sports Illustrated released a story including a second account of sexual misconduct involving Brown. Brown has denied the accusations.