GLENDALE, ARIZONA – AUGUST 15: Wide receiver Antonio Brown #84 of the Oakland Raiders warms up before the NFL preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on August 15, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
After more than a week of utter nonsense, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown has apparently found a helmet he deemed suitable.
After being called out by his general manager about his continued absence due to the grievance process surrounding a helmet, Antonio Brown has returned to practice for the Oakland Raiders. That is a good sign for Oakland. The better sign? He apparently found a helmet he’ll wear.
Brown stretched on Tuesday at the start of practice without a helmet. At first, it appeared that’s all he would do.
Finally, relief from the insanity! Brown emerged at the end of practice with an approved helmet in his hands.
Maybe this is the end of the story. Maybe he’s only wearing this helmet during his league grievance. If that gets denied, does Brown go wild again? Who knows.
Brown made his stance clear with his latest Instagram post, which showcases his lifetime stats and is captioned “Wonder Y”, a sly reference to his ongoing legal battle with the league over his helmet situation.
This helmet drama has turned into a complete sideshow and is the latest sign that Brown cares more about what’s best for him than what is in the best interest his team. The Raiders are clearly getting fed up with Brown’s diva act, especially since the team’s own Twitter account retweeted GM Mike Mayock’s missive about Brown over the weekend, so no one is gaining anything out of this except Brown (and HBO, which is no doubt thrilled that this will all play out on the Hard Knocks stage).
Brown has found a way to put himself into the spotlight over his helmet, which sounds ridiculous to even say, even though he has a snowball’s chance in hell of actually winning this grievance.