Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Antonio Brown.
After a prolonged absence, Antonio Brown is nearing his return. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the wide receiver has agreed to a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This news probably won’t sit well with the Las Vegas Raiders as they clearly have no love for Brown due to his antics last offseason.
Cornerback Trayvon Mullen was just a rookie last season but he got a front-row seat to all the issues Brown caused. Shortly after the news dropped that he signed with Tampa Bay, Mullen posted a tweet that simply said “haha.”
haha
Obviously, that could mean a lot of things but it definitely feels like it’s a reference to the signing. Mullen isn’t a big Twitter user so it seems a little too coincidental that he’d post a message that soon after Brown signed.
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Raiders Have Extra Motivation to Beat the Buccaneers
This decision for the Buccaneers to sign Brown right before they play the Raiders has to feel like a bit of a slap in the face to the team. The wide receiver almost completely derailed the team’s season last year and they had to use a lot of draft capital to address the position this year.
While nobody on the Raiders will come out publicly and bash Brown, it’s hard to imagine there’s not a lot of animosity there. The wide receiver took a number of shots at quarterback Derek Carr after his dismissal. Even though a lot of time has passed, there’s got to be bad blood between the two sides. Raider fans definitely aren’t quick to forgive. The team should use this news as motivation to come out and dominate the Buccaneers on Sunday. Brown won’t be playing but there are a lot of reasons why the Raiders should want to stick it to his new team.
Tom Brady Calls Tuck Rule Game ‘a Fluke’
Speaking of drama with the Buccaneers, there are still a few people within the Raiders organization that still have beef with Tom Brady over the infamous “tuck rule” game back in 2002. Jon Gruden will probably never get over that game because he got traded after the season. The Raiders franchise was altered by the game for over a decade. With Brady meeting a Gruden-led Raiders team for the first time since the infamous game, he had a chance to sound off.
“I’ve only been around him a few times — not too often — but it gets brought up every time we are around one another,” Brady said, via Pro Football Talk. “I could see why he hasn’t gotten over it. One of my ex-teammates, Charles Woodson, we’ve been together probably more than that, and he and I have hashed it out.
“That was just an unbelievable game. I still see it today and it’s a great part of my football history and it’s probably a very sour part of their football history, but that’s the way it goes. We had that in ’07 when we played against the Giants in the Super Bowl, and in ’11 and in ’17 — one team wins and one team loses. It’s a fluke call, one ball bounces your way or one goes the opposite way. I’ll always feel I have some type of strong feeling or emotion toward the Raiders.”
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