Former New England Patriots Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch has come to calm the nerves of Pats fans who are worried that Antonio Brown's recent scandal will jinx the team. After Brown forced the Oakland Raiders to release him, he was swiftly picked up by the Patriots. However, the ink wasn't even dry on his contract before a woman named Britney Taylor, his personal trainer and reported friend from college, filed a lawsuit against him. Taylor cites three instances when she claims Brown sexually assaulted her, including one incident where she accuses the football star of raping her at his home. Brown has vehemently denied that he ever assaulted Taylor.
Scandals such as these can be distractions for players, no matter the sport, but in a chat with TMZ, Branch says that he knows the Patriots will be able to keep it together. "Everything starts with Bill," he said. "It starts with your leader on the team. Coach Belichick, out of all the years he's been coaching and been a part of numerous different organizations, trust me, this ain't the first time something like this has came up with some of the players. He will do what's best for the organization. That we all know."
"None of this stuff is good but at the same time, first and foremost, one thing this team doesn't condone is things of that nature," he continued. "I don't know what's true and what's false. The team is gonna let everything play out. They're gonna do their investigation and they're gonna do what's best for the team, first."
He said that the Patriots team just needs to stay focused and do their jobs without being distracted by the noise. "If you don't have anything to do with it, just stay far away from it," Branch added. He also said team officials are used to dealing with things like this. "Unfortunately, these things come up through the course of the season [but] they get handled. Everything gets sorted out."
