The Saga Continues: Antonio Brown Released by New England
The Saga Continues: Antonio Brown Released by New England
After forcing his way out of Oakland and directly into the hands of Bill Belichick, it appeared that former Steelers receiver Antonio Brown had one-upped all of us and found his way to a Lombardi trophy (and a sweet paycheck). After only one week with the team though, Brown is now a free agent once again. It’s baffling that a man who will certainly take a spot atop the All-Decade first team next year has fallen this far.
If you’ve followed the NFL even a little bit this offseason, you’ll know that Antonio Brown has been in the midst of a plethora of controversies since the conclusion of the 2018 campaign. Here’s a brief recap of how we got here:
Week 16, 2018: Brown racks up 185 yards and two touchdowns in an extremely important game for the Steelers, but they ultimately fall short because of a JuJu Smith-Schuster fumble.
Brown gets into an argument with QB Ben Roethlisberger, and then doesn’t show up for practices prior to a must-win regular-season finale against Cincinnati.
Week 17, 2018: Brown is benched (for reasons unknown at the time), but the Steelers eke out a victory. They end up missing the playoffs because of a Baltimore victory against Cleveland.
March 2019: Brown requests a trade from Pittsburgh following the season, and after nixing a deal with Buffalo, he is sent to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for future third and fifth-round draft selections. The Raiders grant Brown a massive contract extension, and it all appears well between him and his new team.
July: Brown received cryotherapy treatment (a new trend among athletes), but a lack of proper footwear resulted in him catching frostbite on both of his feet. He’s unable to practice.
A new problem arises in the form of his helmet. After being given a year’s warning in 2018, Brown complains about the NFL’s new safety rules concerning player helmets. Due to these new guidelines, Brown’s career-long helmet was banned from use.
August: Brown files a grievance against the NFL, and threatens to retire if not allowed to resume use of his Schutt Air Advantage helmet. He later filed another grievance after losing the first one, and the same result came from it. Brown reportedly attempted to sneak into Raiders practices with his old helmet (the few times he came to practices), but never succeeded.
September: GM Mike Mayock understandably fined Brown for the series of missed practices. Brown responded by posting the letter of his fines on Instagram, stating that his team was hating on him and that “everyone got to pay this year”. He wasted no time confronting Mayock in person, allegedly using a racial slur against him, threatening to hit him, and angrily punting a ball before telling Mayock to fine him for that.
Brown publicly apologized and dodged a suspension while doing so, but that wasn’t the end of his issues with the Silver and Black. Later that night, Brown posted a recorded phone conversation between him and head coach Jon Gruden. In the state of California, the unconsented recording of phone calls is illegal, and it remains to be confirmed whether Brown did it with permission or not. The next day, after learning of the removal of his contract guarantees, Brown requested a release from the Raiders. They obliged, but slapped with a $215,000 fine (stemming from the incident with Mayock) before he left.
Brown made a grand total of $0 during his time with the Raiders, and was fined about $270,000 in total.
After he was released, Brown quickly signed with the New England Patriots, leading many to speculate that his sudden change in behavior was all a facade to mask his intentions of going to the Patriots. It would make sense knowing that Pittsburgh wasn’t going to trade him to New England regardless of the offer. It appeared that things could only go up from here, but Brown’s former trainer accused him of multiple cases of sexual assault. Brown still suited up for New England and recorded 56 yards and a touchdown on four grabs in his only game.
It remains unclear whether he is guilty of the alleged offenses or not, but after a fiery report came out on Brown’s history of erratic behavior, it wasn’t looking good for the five-time All-Pro. Recent messages from him to the accuser also surfaced, and New England wasted no time getting rid of the talented but troubled wideout. They completed the transaction in a timely manner in order to avoid paying Brown the guarantees and bonuses in his new contract. Brown seemed to have assimilated into the Patriot Way because he simply thanked the team for their time instead of causing further issues. Where Brown goes from here is unknown, but the disintegration of an accomplished career came hard and came fast.
-By: Micah Jimoh