Getty Antonio Brown with Mike Mayock.
In all likelihood, Antonio Brown has played his last game in the NFL. The seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver has a Hall of Fame resume but his antics on and off the field have alienated the league. When Brown was with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was known as a diva but things got out of control after he was traded to the Raiders.
The wide receiver started a series of controversies almost immediately, including to referring to former Raiders general manager Mike Mayock as a “cracker,” after joining the team and was cut before ever playing a game. That was a huge disaster for the Raiders as they traded third and fifth-round draft picks to get him and made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. Even though Brown is essentially out of the league, he’s still up to his old antics. He released a statement on Twitter talking about his biggest regret, which has nothing to do with all of the controversial things he’s done:
My biggest regret in my career doesn’t involve calling my GM a ‘cracker,’ or showing up to Raiders camp late in a hot air balloon with frozen feet, or throwing rocks at that UPS driver, and it definitely doesn’t involve taking my shirt off and doing a victory lap around the Jets stadium mid game while throwing up deuces,” the spoof quote stated.
My biggest regret is that I’ll never get to see me, Antonio Brown, play a game live. Sure, I can watch the game afterwards, but I can’t imagine what that was like for you all to see something like that. Like watching the Beatles or Jesus perform at Red Rocks.
Sincerely AB
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Is Brown Trolling?
Many who saw the statement from Brown thought it was sincere. You can’t put anything past the wide receiver and this is far from the most egregious thing he’s ever said. However, it appears that Brown is doing a bit of trolling.
The quote that he posted is from a social media account called TheSportsMemery. Their watermark is even in the photo that Brown posted.
@AB84 Origin of the meme, a couple of days ago: @TheSportsMemery
Now, the new question is if Brown saw this fake quote and thought it was funny or if he thought it was accurate to how he really feels. It’s hard to know for sure with the controversial superstar.
Is Brown Truly Done in the NFL?
Brown is one of the most gifted wide receivers in NFL history. Had he not started up with all the antics, he certainly would’ve made it to the top-five all-time in receiving yards. He’s already 24th. He’s 34 now and has dealt with injuries in recent stints so teams are a lot less likely to take a flyer on him.
As evident in the past, anything is possible with Brown in terms of landing with a team. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have been the last team willing to put up with his antics but they signed Julio Jones and don’t need another wide receiver. Barring a team getting desperate, it appears that Brown’s days in the NFL are over.
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