Getty Oakland Raiders WR Antonio Brown.
The Oakland Raiders’ wide receiver, Antonio Brown, has been at war with the NFL over their decision to not allow him to wear his preferred helmet. It has been a lingering issue over the last few weeks, but it seems like the saga is coming to an end. Based on a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport, Brown has lost his second grievance against the NFL.
Source: #Raiders WR Antonio Brown has lost his grievance for his helmet. Again.
Despite previous rumors that Brown would consider retirement if he could not wear his helmet of choice, he is expected to accept the decision and play on. The Raiders have to hope that this puts an end to the helmet controversy that’s been ruling the headlines for some time now. Fortunately for Brown, there may be a new endorsement coming his way, per Pro Football Talk.
Per source, Antonio Brown is close to picking a new helmet, and his decision will include a custom-made model and an endorsement deal. So, silver lining.
That is a silver lining, indeed. It’s a win-win situation. Brown makes more money and the NFL gets what they want. While it’s almost a certainty that Brown is unhappy with the NFL’s decision, he’s going to have to make the best of it. He’s made a lot of negative headlines this offseason and he’s going to have to put up some big numbers if people are going to forget about them. There’s been a lot of noise coming from this whole thing and now the team can focus on football. With the foot injury seemingly behind him, Brown should be ready to go for the Raiders come week one.
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Brown at Practice
Even with the NFL’s decision, Brown was on the practice field for the Raiders for Sunday’s session. This is the opposite reaction that he had to the previous rejection. Brown ditched practice when he found out the NFL wouldn’t let him wear his helmet, which elicited a blunt response from general manager Mike Mayock.
Antonio Brown working here at Raiders practice. (Tyrell Williams back today, too)
Most notably, he’s on the field sporting his new helmet. In the recent Hard Knocks episode, the camera caught Brown saying how he thought the helmet was very ugly, so hopefully, that’s not the only reason he made it a big deal.
Brown isn’t happy with how he’s been portrayed during this controversy and he said on Hard Knocks that he felt like he was the “enemy of the f***in’ state” and that he wants there to be more work and less noise. Well, it looks like there will be less noise in the future.
Brown needed to essentially regrow the skin on his feet and that hasn’t helped matters. The whole frostbite issue was a big set back for the All-Pro wide receiver. Luckily, he’s spent the last couple preseason games warming up with Derek Carr and running routes. His cuts look sharp and he seems to be running fine. The injury shouldn’t linger into the season. The Raiders have a tough matchup against a stout Denver Broncos defense in week one and they’ll need Brown in top form.
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