The New England Patriots have released receiver Antonio Brown. Apparently politics and Major League Soccer do not mix. And, we’re down to the semi-finals of the WNBA playoffs.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And now it’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Antonio Brown is cut. And apparently politics and Major League Soccer don’t mix. Down to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs. NPR’s Tom Goldman joins us.

Hello there, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: You and I mix, Scott.

SIMON: Yeah, you and I mix, my friend. The Patriots have said goodbye – don’t let the door hit you on your way out – to Antonio Brown. But it’s – I mean, he was OK for one game for them. What happened?

GOLDMAN: They cut him yesterday, less than two weeks after signing him. You know, it was always a risk to sign him, Scott. He had this rocky ending to his nine years in Pittsburgh and his very short stay in Oakland this offseason. But as you know, the Patriots pride themselves on bringing in troubled players and having them snap to under the mythical Patriot Way, so they brought him in.

And after they signed him, the story got gravely serious. A lawsuit filed by Brown’s former personal trainer accused him of rape. Then another woman who alleges Brown made an unwanted sexual advance toward her in 2017 says Brown sent her a threatening – threatening text messages this week while he was a Patriot. And that reportedly was the last straw for New England. His agent said in a statement sorry things didn’t work out. Antonio hopes to play for another team soon.

SIMON: Also in the NFL, starting quarterbacks have been falling like trees in a forest. Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Nick Foles and, of course, Andrew Luck retired before he could be felled. Should Colin Kaepernick be waiting by the phone?

GOLDMAN: You’re hearing more and more people say no. And that’s after three years out of league with another batch of quarterbacks going down, as you say. And the calls are, you know, not going to come. Maybe teams think he’s too expensive to sign. And they can trot out lesser and cheaper quarterbacks, or there’s still concerned that he is politically toxic, even though the protests during the anthem issue has cooled down from what it was two, three years ago. Whatever the reasons, he’s still not playing. And you wonder if he ever will.

SIMON: I have to point out – I’m sure some people will ask. So Antonio Brown with these very serious charges could be signed by another team. It looks like Colin Kaepernick won’t.

GOLDMAN: Don’t try and…

SIMON: Oh, we’ll get to that if and when it happens.

GOLDMAN: Don’t try and get logic out of the NFL, Scott.

SIMON: All right. I want to ask you about Major League Soccer fans in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle and Portland have made their own political demonstration.

GOLDMAN: It’s very interesting. You know, we’ve been talking a lot about athletes making political demonstrations, like Colin Kaepernick. But now as you say, it’s the fans doing it. An interesting story, a new Major League Soccer policy this season prohibits political displays by fans. And some fans in Seattle and Portland don’t like that.

The fans have been displaying a symbol of the Iron Front. That was an anti-Nazi paramilitary group in Germany in the 1930s. Soccer fans say the symbol now is a statement against fascism and for human rights. MLS doesn’t like it because the league says the Iron Front symbol also is used by Antifa, the antifascist group that sometimes engages in violence. So MLS and fan groups met this week to try to resolve the dispute. They didn’t. They’re going to continue the conversation this coming week.

SIMON: WNBA semifinals, Washington Mystics versus the Las Vegas Aces and the LA Sparks versus the Connecticut Sun, how do you see things?

GOLDMAN: Right now, Washington and Connecticut looking very good, appear headed to the finals, which would be appropriate. They were the top two teams in the regular season, and they’re both up two games to none in their series. They’re both playing very well. Washington has this year’s MVP, Elena Delle Donne. It would be an entertaining final if they met.

SIMON: NPR’s Tom Goldman, thanks so much. Talk to you soon.

GOLDMAN: You’re welcome, Scott. Bye.

(SOUNDBITE OF CLEVER GIRL’S “JUMBO”)

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The New England Patriots have cut Antonio Brown after just 11 days with the team. The wide receiver is accused of sexual assault and his future in the NFL is now in doubt.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

To the NFL now. The New England Patriots have released receiver Antonio Brown. Pressure had been building on the Patriots after allegations surfaced that Brown sexually assaulted a former trainer. From member station WGBH in Boston, Esteban Bustillos has more.

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS, BYLINE: Eleven days – that’s how long the professional relationship between Antonio Brown and the New England Patriots lasted. And although the time was short, it was filled with strife from the beginning. Brown came in as something of a character whose antics forced the Oakland Raiders to release him. But the conversation became serious when Brown’s former trainer Britney Taylor accused him of sexual assault and rape in a lawsuit. When the allegations became public, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick remained stoic.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Were you aware of the lawsuit when you signed Antonio Brown?

BILL BELICHICK: I’m not going to be expanding on the statements that have already been given.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Don’t you think the fans deserve to hear a little more from you on…

BELICHICK: When we know more, we’ll say more.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: …Such a major development that, you know, could impact the team?

BELICHICK: I just said that.

BUSTILLOS: But the Patriots didn’t really say much more at all, and neither did Brown when he talked to reporters for the first time as a Patriot just yesterday. He answered a question about whether the NFL had told him anything about his playing status.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANTONIO BROWN: I appreciate that question. You know, I’m just here to just focus on ball and look forward to getting out there in the home stadium and being with the team.

BUSTILLOS: The pressure’s been on the NFL to do something. The league has battled image problems with multiple players over the past few years being accused of violence against women. During the past week, the NFL reportedly spoke to his accuser, Taylor, and Sports Illustrated reported that another unnamed woman had also accused him of sexual misconduct. Brown’s agent tweeted this afternoon that Brown wants to play the game he loves and hopes to play for another team soon, which would be his fourth in less than a year.

For NPR News, I’m Esteban Bustillos in Boston.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with former Iranian soccer coach Katayoun Khosrowyar about Sahar Khodayari, a young woman who died after trying to watch a stadium soccer game in Iran.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Women in Iran are prohibited from attending men’s soccer games in the national stadium. To get around that, some women dress up as men to go. They risk arrest and worse. Last week, Sahar Khodayari was sentenced to six months in prison for attending a men’s game. At the court, she then set herself on fire in protest and she died. Her death has now sparked worldwide outrage, with calls on FIFA, the sport’s governing body, to intervene. Activists have used the hashtag #bluegirl on Twitter, the color of Khodayari’s favorite Iranian team. That includes Kat Khosrowyar, former coach to Iran’s national under-19 women’s team. She’s now head coach at Seattle’s Reign Academy and she joins us now on the line. Thank you so much.

KATAYOUN KHOSROWYAR: Thank you, Lulu. It’s an honor to be here today.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Why do you think this prompted such a huge outcry and response?

KHOSROWYAR: This has never happened before. I mean, I’ve lived in Iran since 2005. It’s only been a few months that I’ve moved back to the U.S. And, you know, growing up there, there was no women’s soccer. So I helped, you know, pick up and create that platform for women. For me, this is like something that is, you know, completely outrageous – to hear that something so bad has happened to, you know, a fan – a woman who was a huge soccer fan. You know, because I was there for 15 years, and I’ve seen how soccer is ingrained in our DNA. So this has been a really unfortunate event and it’s very difficult to cope with.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Kat, Iran isn’t a hyper-segregated society. Men and women work together. They socialize and mix in public life. So why do authorities separate men and women in stadiums?

KHOSROWYAR: This is a very good question. It’s a very, very tricky question, as well, because I still don’t know the answers to that. And I don’t know the answer because of this specific stadium – Azadi Stadium is in the capital of Tehran. It holds 100,000 people. It has a lot of security. And I think what is going through, you know, their head is that they don’t know how to, you know, protect the women that go in there with, you know, 100,000 men all over the place. But if you go to, like, the other big cities of Iran, if you go, like, with other sports, there is no problem with it.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: FIFA President Gianni Infantino has previously urged Iranian authorities to take “concrete steps” for women to attend games. Are authorities likely to respond to pressure from FIFA?

KHOSROWYAR: The authorities are responding. I think the government does want this to happen, it just takes time. There has been a lot of talk for the past few years, they just want to test it. For example, last year, with my national team, we were able to go twice, which was very historic. So we only thought that that was going to continue. But the government needs to facilitate opening the stadium for women and, you know, FIFA has demanded it. I do, you know, hope the situation gets resolved quickly for women to come watch their favorite team play and support them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You’ve seen the hashtag #bluegirl trending on Twitter. You asked in a tweet what sports fans could do to support female soccer fans in Iran. Do you think fans can actually change things?

KHOSROWYAR: Fans are the change-makers in the country. You know, soccer is the national sport. I think that this has to somehow evolve into getting more women involved and men have to, you know, support this cause because we do need, you know, their help. We do need the fact that they’ve been, you know, working in soccer for a much longer time than we have to get involved in helping us progress. So I think men need to either come together to, like, help us or, you know, it’s just going to continue the way it is. And men have a huge role – bigger role than us to help facilitate what what happens next.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That’s Kat Khosrowyar, head coach at Seattle’s Reign Academy. Thank you so much.

KHOSROWYAR: Thank you, Lulu, for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF HOMAYOUN SHAJARIAN’S “LIBERATION: TASNIF ON KHAYAM QUATRAIN”)

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

A juiced triple crown winner and an NFL player accused of sexual assault can still play: NPR’s Scott Simon talks with ESPN’s Michele Steele about this week in sports.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And now to the mellow sounds of B.J. Lederman, who writes our theme music. It’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Another scandal hits horse racing. Will a Triple Crown winner have to get back the roses? Also, Antonio Brown of the New England Patriots is accused of sexual assault but will still take the field. And an injury puts one of baseball’s great young talents on the bench just before the playoffs. We’re joined now by ESPN’s Michele Steele. Good morning, Michele. Good to have you back.

MICHELE STEELE: Great to be back, Scott.

SIMON: And let’s – you’re in Chicago. Right?

STEELE: Yes, right, I am.

SIMON: Even better then.

STEELE: (Laughter).

SIMON: So let’s start with the scandal. Justify failed a drug test in April 2018 before going on to win that year’s Kentucky Derby, ultimately the Triple Crown. According to the rules of racing, he should have been disqualified until an investigation was complete. Why wasn’t he?

STEELE: My goodness, Scott. What a bombshell of a story. You know only 13 horses in history have won the Triple Crown. Of course, that’s winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont Stakes. Justify was one of those horses in 2018. This is a big, big deal. The New York Times had the scoop. Justify tested positive for a banned substance called scopolamine. And this was right after the Santa Anita Derby. It’s sort of a performance-enhancing drug.

Then the California Horse Racing Board did three weird things. One, they slow-walked to confirm the test. It took them more than a month to let Justify’s trainer, Bob Baffert, know. He’s a little bit the Bill Belichick of racing. Two, they did not reveal the test publicly, which is something that they normally would have done. And then four months later, after Justify won all of these accolades, won the Triple Crown, they sort of quietly dropped the case altogether…

SIMON: Yeah.

STEELE: …Because they say that Justify maybe could have eaten some contaminated feed. And that was the reason for the flunked drug test. So real mystery.

SIMON: Will something like this make fans think this sport is fixed? And you mentioned Santa Anita. Of course, the deaths of Santa Anita have been a terrible scandal in the racing industry, not to mention a loss.

STEELE: You know, this Triple Crown winner, unfortunately, is going to have an asterisk by his name. Now, the way horse racing works – they don’t give back the roses so to speak. He’s not going to lose his title. In fact, he’s already out to stud in Australia. So Justify…

SIMON: Sixty million dollars, if I’m not mistaken.

STEELE: Sixty million dollars, yes. So there’s lots of powerful interests here in horse racing. And as we know, you know, it’s a very insular sport where the people who are on the California Regulating Board are the same people who would hire guys like Bob Baffert.

So a little bit – we’re seeing them closed the wagons so to speak with – where this case, you know, is concerned. And I don’t think much is really going to happen here except for people will be scratching their heads in the future, wondering if Justify really did it on his own.

SIMON: In the half-minute we have left – Patriots, you used to cover the team. Antonio Brown is going to be a New – when have the New England Patriots say – sorry, you’re not wearing our uniform until these charges of sexual assault are investigated.

STEELE: Well, you know what, Scott? It has – partly has to do with the words I’m about to say which is that Antonio Brown is one of the best wide receivers in football. He is just a tremendous player, and talent wins out. All week he has been preparing as if he’s going to play the Miami Dolphins tomorrow, on Sunday.

And on the team’s part, they have said that they do not condone any sexual violence. He’s been accused in a civil lawsuit, but they’re going to do – as Bill Belichick said – what’s, quote, “best for the team.” It appears that he’s going to play, and then the league is going to investigate this. We’ll see what happens.

SIMON: ESPN’s Michelle Steele. Thanks so much.

STEELE: Sure.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.