Getty Rapper Kodak Black performs at the 2021 Rolling Loud festival in Miami.
The Baltimore Ravens have been linked with prominent wide receivers in the last year, including All-Pro Michael Thomas, and this week’s Antonio Brown controversy has once again sparked rumors of a new wideout in Baltimore, this time from an unlikely source.
Rapper Kodak Black said that Browns “should have probably went to the Ravens” during an Instagram Live session on January 6, hours before Brown was formally released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per Heavy’s Matthew Davis.
Black cited the presence of Antonio Brown’s cousin, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, in the Ravens’ wide receiver room as motivation for Brown to come to Baltimore.
The Florida-based rapper has been vocal about Brown’s situation since the former Pittsburgh Steeler’s antics during a January 2 game against the New York Jets. Black accused the Buccaneers on January 3 of attempting to prevent Brown from receiving incentive-based bonuses outlined in his contract.
Black isn’t the only rapper to weigh in on the latest controversy surrounding Brown, as Rick Ross also urged his fans “not to jump to all sorts of conclusions” regarding Brown, according to a video posted on the Instagram page of hip-hop Youtuber DJ Akademiks.
“Right now, we living in a legacy era,” said Ross, “We ain’t gonna fumble the bag but we ain’t gonna let them do us any kind of way.”
Ross also humorously pointed out that Brown helped the Buccaneers win a Super Bowl last season, “not a toilet bowl.”
Jackson’s Connection with Kodak Black
Ravens superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson has a history with Kodak Black, dating back to their shared childhood in Pompano Beach, Florida.
The pair remained close throughout Jackson’s success at the University of Louisville and in the NFL with the Ravens, per Bleacher Report’s Rob Goldberg. Black was seen celebrating the Ravens’ 2018 AFC North title in Baltimore’s locker room with Jackson and other members of the team.
Jackson even appealed to former President Donald Trump in January 2021 to commute Black’s 46-month prison sentence after a conviction for a weapons charge. The plea worked, as Trump commuted Black’s sentence within the month, according to Bleacher Report’s Paul Kasabian.
Ravens’ History With Antonio Brown
This is not the first time that Brown, a longtime foe in Baltimore, has been linked with the Ravens.
Jackson worked out with Antonio and Marquise Brown during the 2020 offseason, sparking rumors that the then-unsigned wideout could join Jackson and his cousin in Baltimore.
Jackson was vocal about his desire for the Ravens to sign Brown at the time, telling media in April 2020, “He’s a great player, he shows it each and every year.”
“I’d be happy if we signed him,” said Jackson before adding that such a signing was “not my decision.”
Ravens fans have pushed for the team to sign Brown in the past, but the fanbase does not appear overly enthusiastic about Brown’s potential arrival following his outburst in New York.
I was all for AB in 2020, but now, just no. There’s one common factor in all of these situations, him, yet somehow it’s always someone else’s fault. The second Marquise started catching more balls than him the IG stories would start. “Blood supposed to be thicker than water” lmao
But with Baltimore’s playoff hopes still (barely) alive, one fan thinks that Brown could be a huge boost to a Ravens playoff run, arguing that the team would be “fully loaded” if Brown were to be on the roster for the 2022 season as well.
@Ravens sign @AB84 now so that way if we make the playoffs he’ll be ready and if we don’t, we’ll be fully loaded for next season. #RavensFlock
But given all of the drama surrounding Brown, it’s extremely unlikely that the Ravens make a move to acquire him at all, much less in the 10 days before the NFL playoffs are scheduled to begin.
With a breakout season from Marquise Brown, a record-setting year from Mark Andrews and a solid rookie effort from rookie Rashod Bateman, Jackson will still have plenty of dangerous weapons to target next season.