Antonio Brown has had a very interesting off-season. Starting with getting frostbite from a cryogenic chamber to contemplating retirement because he wasn’t able to use his old helmet of choice, Brown couldn’t get on the field. By the end of Hard Knocks, it looked as if AB was poised to be the star wideout the Raiders had longed for since they traded Amari Cooper. This turned out to hardly be the case.
First came Wednesday, where Brown received a letter, from Raiders General Manager Mike Mayock, informing him of $54,000 fine for missing team activities. Antonio was not pleased with this fine, going to his Instagram story to say, “When your own team wants to hate but there’s no stopping me now Devil is a lie. Everyone got to pay this year so we clear.” If you couldn’t understand that, sans proper punctuation, he was very upset. In response to the suspension, AB went to Raiders HQ to express his emotions. In doing so he threatened to punch Mayock in the face, unlaunched a barrage of cuss words directed the GM, including but not limited to calling him a “cracker”, and punting a football while yelling “now fine me for that!”
The best part is that Vontaze Burfict held Antonio back, so he wouldn’t worsen his situation. This is hilarious because, with Burfict on the Bengals and Brown on the Steelers, Burfict had a history of nasty hits given to AB. The nastiest was a helmet to helmet hit in the 2016 AFC Wild Card, that knocked Brown out cold. He then was forced to miss the team’s next playoff game, where they were eliminated.
The altercation with Mike Mayock resulted in a $215,000 fine, the void of the $30 million guaranteed money from his contract, and an assumed suspension. After an “emotional apology” on Friday, Jon Gruden announced that Brown would not be suspended and, a go to play in the Raiders game Monday. Late Friday night, on his Youtube channel, Antonio Brown released his call with the coach, telling Brown to “Please stop this (explicit) and just play football”. Gruden didn’t mind that he released this, and found it amusing.
Early Saturday morning, Antonio took to Instagram once again, posting a picture with the quote, “You are gonna piss a lot of people off when you start doing what’s best for you.” In the caption, among other things, Brown said “Release me @raiders #NOMore”. Next came him saying “No way I play after they took that”, when speaking about his $29 Million in guarentees. Finally, around 9AM on Saturday Brown was realesed.
In another video posted to his Youtube, Brown runs around yelling “IM FREE”, when he hears the news. He could sign with a new team by 1PM the same day.
Finally, around 2PM on Saturday, the news, which some predicted, came true. “Antonio Brown has agreed to terms with the Patriots, per source”- Adam Schefter. What a wild 48 hours it had been. The deal, 1-year, $15 Million. He lost out on 15M in this fiasco, assuming he loses a grievance against the Raiders, but he can finally get on the gridiron.
No, he can’t be on the field on Sunday night vs the Steelers, although we all wish we could see it. And yes, the Patriots are now Super Bowl bound, yet again.
Although there is no more Gronk, for now, the Patriots receiving core is STACKED! They have trusty Julian Edleman, who has a career-long connection with Brady, Josh Gordon, who, when on the field is an absolute BEAST, Demaryius Thomas, once one of the top WR’s in the league, and finally Antonio Brown, a top 5 WR in this beloved game of ours. This quartet combines for 13 Pro Bowls and 5 SB Rings! Not to mention they have the best player in football history to throw darts at them.
Antonio Brown is a diva, clown, or whatever you want to call it. I completely agree. His antics have been absolutely ridiculous this offseason, but he has been the best wideout in the NFL as of recent. If there is a situation that could work for him, it would be the NO NONSENSE New England Patriots. Jon Gruden’s friendly system was certainly not the fit, but you heard it here, Brown is going to have an amazing season this year.
With Brady’s variety of weapons, including the WR’s 1st and 2nd in 2013 receiving yards, Gordon and Brown, the Pats will have the most dangerous offense in football. They have an amazing backfield, Sony Michel, James White, and Damien Harris, crazy good wideout weapons, and the GOAT under center. Business will boom in Bean-Town, as the Patriots bring number 7 back to Foxborough.
4th and Short Sports 