Browns draft pick Caleb Brantley wouldn’t go into details about his assault allegation which clouds his status with the team, but he did say he was drawing motivation from the attention he’s gotten since then.
Brantley talked to reporters at the team’s rookie minicamp Friday. He hasn’t signed yet, and the team has said they may still get rid of him, depending on what they find find in their own investigation of the April incident in which he was accused of hitting a woman in the face. Local authorities in Florida have not decided whether to charge him or not.
“I ain’t going to say I did hear all the stuff that was said about me, but there’s definitely a chip on my shoulder,” Brantley said, via Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. “I’m just going to go out and prove everybody wrong who said bad things about me, said I have character issues and all of that. But . . . I ain’t really worried about it. I’m just ready to move on.”
Brantley said he was “thankful” to be given a chance by the Browns, who stopped a draft slide in the sixth round. But he wouldn’t get into the discussions he had with the team, and said it hasn’t come up with teammates.
“I feel like I’m a genuine, you know, great person,” Brantley said. “I’m just out here playing football, the game that I love, trying to take care of my mom and my brother. Obviously, everyone got their opinions on social media and stuff like that, but my teammates can speak for that, people who know me.”
It’s one thing to not say anything about a pending legal matter, but to take offense at the reality it is being reported and drawing motivation from it is an odd decision.