The NFL may have given Antonio Brown a road map for his reinstatement. But plenty of questions remain before he steps onto a field again.

The result of Penguins-Canadiens in Pittsburgh wasn’t exactly a hit. But the NBC ratings were.

Marc-Andre Fleury won’t start in goal for Las Vegas Monday. And we’ve got a hockey buzzer beater, too.

All that in Monday’s “First Call.”

When will business be boomin’ again?

We think we know when former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown will be eligible for a return to the National Football League.

But we don’t know much more than that.

The NFL has decided to suspend him through the first eight weeks of the regular season. Commissioner Roger Goodell essentially stalled Brown for as long as he could before making a decision.

It worked. The league’s investigation into multiple accusations of sexual assault and witness intimidation — as well as the charges stemming from an incident with a moving truck driver — plodded along for the final 15 weeks of last season. Not to mention the entire offseason until the announcement Friday of the eight-game suspension.

Although, as the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero points out, the suspension may get extended pending future court rulings.

Antonio Brown has accepted his eight-week suspension and isn't expected to appeal, per source.

So the soonest he could be back on the field is Week 9 ... though again, an additional suspension is possible depending what comes out in a pending civil case. Next hearing Sept. 15.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 31, 2020

Via ProFootballTalk.com, “The eight-game suspension begins to run in Week One, regardless of whether Brown is on a team. The NFL has confirmed to PFT that, indeed, the suspension will last through Week Eight (if not signed) or his team’s eighth game (if signed).”

That leads to an interesting set of questions for any team potentially signing Brown, given the uncertain state of the schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.

I would imagine any team thinking about signing Brown would be even less inclined to do so for at least the first eight weeks of the regular season. Prior to Friday, there had been some belief that some franchise with interest in Brown — particularly the Seattle Seahawks or Baltimore Ravens — may just want to do it before another club got to him first in case the NFL had been more generous in its ruling.

But why bother until you have to make a real roster decision in November? Why sign him and put him on the roster for a season that may never be played? Why deal with the bad press or the typical “Ronald Ocean” distractions until he’d theoretically be cleared to play?

As ESPN’s Adam Schefter points out, a team that signs him now could have him participate in its preseason activities. That doesn’t seem worth the burden to me, though, if he can’t play until November.

Where the target starts to move on all of this is regarding the state of the pandemic. Brown’s reinstatement is roughly three months from now. Who knows if the covid-19 testing requirements will be tightened or relaxed by then. Who knows what the roster rules will be for allowing players onto a roster who haven’t previously been part of the organization.

According to ESPN, Brown can sign somewhere during his suspension.

Antonio Brown’s suspension is effective Sept. 5, whether he’s on a roster or not. It runs through Week 8 of the regular season or his team’s 8th game, if he signs during the suspension.

— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) July 31, 2020

So, let’s say the Ravens know they want Brown on their roster by Game 9 (FYI, they come to Heinz Field for Game 11).

Will Brown be allowed to simply show up to the facility on Monday, Nov. 9 and start working out with the club after his first negative league-sponsored covid-19 test?

Or would Baltimore need to sign him 10-14 days in advance so he can accumulate two weeks’ worth of negative tests before he signs and can report? And, if so, is he officially a member of the team at that point in case an extension of his suspension occurs?

If that happens, what if the league shuts down the season between when Brown signs (say after Week 6) and when the Ravens would’ve been eligible to put him on the active gameday roster? Keep in mind, Week 8 is the Sunday before Election Day. So any 11th hour political decisions about the pandemic that could impact national policy — and the league — may come into play.

Does that mean Brown’s contractual rights carry over to the Ravens to start 2021?

If so, that may actually be a best-case scenario for Baltimore, they could get Brown for one experimental year on the cheap for 16 games instead of eight.

Translation? All that decision from the league did on Friday is provide a potential best-case scenario for Brown. “Antonio, if a team wants you after Week 8, they can sign you for Week 9.”

But like the rest of us in 2020, Mr. Big Chest really doesn’t have much more clarity.

Elsewhere in “First Call”….

Eyeballs on it

Penguins fans may not have liked what they saw at the end of their team’s 3-2 loss in overtime Monday.

But that 2020 playoff opener certainly had a lot of people watching it. Especially by hockey standards. Check out some of these viewership numbers promoted by NBC.

• The game averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.572 million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL game of the 2019-20 season, excluding the Winter Classic.

• The TAD of 1.572 million viewers was up 46% vs. the 2019-20 NHL regular-season average on NBC (1.074 million).

• It was the most-watched game ever on NBC to feature a Canadian team (excluding Winter Classics and traditional playoff games).

• Canadiens-Penguins ranks as the second-most streamed game of the 2019-20 NHL season with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 27,800 viewers, behind only the season-opener (Washington-St. Louis; 38,100 viewers).

All those viewers. All those shots. Just two goals for the Penguins.

The teams rematch at 8 p.m. Monday night for Game 2.

The Flower won’t bloom Monday

Former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury won’t be getting the start for the Las Vegas Golden Knights Monday. That’s their first game of the Western Conference round robin in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the Dallas Stars in Edmonton.

Robin Lehner will start instead. Fleury got the start in the team’s exhibition game Thursday, making 22 saves along the way in a 4-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes.

Coach Peter DeBoer said prior to the Qualifiers that the plan was to give Lehner and Fleury two starts each leading up to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

One shining moment

Many people have suggested the wall-to-wall NHL coverage we saw this weekend was like March Madness on skates.

Well, the NCAA college basketball tournament is usually defined by buzzer beaters. So here you go.

OH MY BUZZER BEATER!

The @Avalanche with the PHOTO FINISH WIN. #StanleyCup | #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/dEZTugAjmX

— #StanleyCup Qualifiers on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) August 3, 2020

That was Nazem Kadri of the Colorado Avalanche burning the St. Louis Blues at the horn of Game 1 of their respective Western Conference round-robin schedules.

The goal underwent a long review and was allowed to stand.

WITH 0.1 SECONDS LEFT!

The @Avalanche take Game 1 thanks to Nazem Kadri (@43_Kadri). #StanleyCup Round Robin pic.twitter.com/OCkM41ViTO

— NHL (@NHL) August 3, 2020

Colorado next plays Dallas on Wednesday. The Blues get Las Vegas on Thursday.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---