The AB Saga: Make your mind up
The Oakland Raiders made what looked to be a very astute signing in this years off season by trading for one of the NFL’s best receivers in Antonio Brown, this signing, would turn out to be probably the biggest story-lines leading up to the season in years, but not for the right reasons.
At the end of last season AB had a spectacular fallout with the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he refused to play the final game of the regular season and what followed was a rather public spat with AB and Ben Roethlisberger where AB stated they were not friends nor had they ever been. The wide receiver was traded to the Raiders in the off season and given a contract which included $30 million in guarantees.
Shortly before training camp was due to start AB injured his feet with excessive use of cryo-therapy, which involves putting your body through minus temperatures in order to aid recovery. This meant AB missed the start of training camp due to injury. When AB was due to join training camp the NFL released new regulations and safety rules regarding helmets, AB’s helmet did not meet these regulations and was not manufactured in the last 10 years so was not up for re-evaluation. This meant AB could not practice, he filed a grievance against the NFL and subsequently lost.
Finally after god knows how long, AB found a helmet he found comfortable enough to play in an joined the end of training camp. But, just days later, AB was fined for this entire saga and for missing practices and his conduct on social media. AB did not take this well and posted what was a private email on his Instagram and then at practice confronted General Manager Mike Mayock where things got heated, words were exchanged, players held AB back and AB finished the confrontation by punting a ball and saying “Fine me for that”. After this it looked as though the Raiders would suspend AB which would result in the receiver losing out on his guaranteed money and this would most likely lead to the team releasing him, ending his career in Oakland before it had even started.
Head Coach Jon Gruden stated on the same day that the Raiders were preparing to play Week One without their star receiver. Less than 24 hours later it was reported that AB had given an “emotional” apology to the team with the team captains stood alongside him. Following this Gruden stated he believed AB would play Week One. AB was not suspended by the team.
Less than 12 hours later, the saga got a new chapter. AB released a video on his Youtube that included audio from a private phone conversation between the player and Gruden. The video shows Gruden saying “Please stop this shit and just play football” to which AB responded “I’m more than just a football player, I’m a real person”. Gruden was later quoted saying he thought the video was “Awesome”.
That night the Raiders fined AB via 2 letters. The first letter told AB he was being fined $215,073 for his conduct since Wednesday, which is when the player told Mayock to “Fine me for that” well, he did. Now here’s where it gets slightly complicated, the second letter told AB he was no longer eligible for termination pay should he be cut. The fine itself and the reason for the fine make his guaranteed money void, meaning AB will lose over $30 million along with this his actions have voided termination pay which is around $14 million, this applies even if AB is cut after Week One. All this means AB’s contract is week to week, essentially AB has lost his guaranteed money and will receive nothing if cut. So AB would be paid week to week whilst walking a slim tightrope. As expected AB was not happy.
The player took to Instagram to post a picture which included the text “You are gonna piss people off when you start doing what’s best for you.” with a caption ending in “Release me @raiders”.
This whole thing is probably worth a movie at this point and it doesn’t even look like AB will ever play a game as a Raider.
So here’s my thoughts, ever since AB had his meltdown in Pittsburgh, I’ve always had doubts we’d ever see the player that came out of the 6th round in 2010 and proved everyone wrong. There’s no doubt AB has earned nearly every penny he’s received and the title as one of the best in the game. But the AB we’ve seen for the past 7 months is not the player, nor the person we know.
I get why he felt disrespected in Pittsburgh, but Juju has been good for the past two years and at 31, AB was always going to slow down and the way AB handled a player getting more targets than him was like a kid throwing his toys out of the pram.
After getting his pay rise and a move away from his newly self-created enemy in Big Ben, AB has had some tests that I understand, the foot injury not on him, I get that, the helmet issue, you want to protect your head in the best way I get that, but to have a public strop when the team is simply carrying out standard protocol is simply out of order. The confrontation isn’t like AB which is why I believe he made some sort of apology. But the confrontation itself was worth a suspension, end of. So for the Raiders to make a fine, all be it a fine that loses him guaranteed money, is relatively lenient.
Do I sympathise with AB? In some ways, I get that he’s desperate for respect and wants to support and guarantee his family’s future. But he has gone about this in all the wrong ways. You can’t relay on past achievements to make everybody respect you, I don’t doubt AB’s work ethic for one minute, that man works his arse off weekly but why would any team want a veteran who creates a distraction daily, does not lead the team in healthy way and constantly voices his concerns publicly rather than down the appropriate channels?
AB has spent his entire career earning his way to the top, earning the respect of others and he’s on his way to losing it all, all because of off field conduct.
Right now AB is poisoned chalice, a player that can transform your team, you just have no idea whether that transformation will be good or bad.
The Antonio Brown saga goes on.
