The Antonio Brown SpectacFalls on Jon Gruden
In a twist that not many people saw coming, Antonio Brown has refollowed the Oakland Raiders on Instagram. After news broke yesterday that Raiders GM Mike Mayock and All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown got into a shouting match and that Brown was to be suspended, everyone thought that this was the end of a short relationship. After all, Brown did unfollow QB Derek Carr and the team’s Instagram account.
All joking aside, reports were coming out from Adam Schefter, Ian Rapoport, and other well-respected NFL insiders that the Raiders were planning to suspend Antonio Brown. Many thought that in doing so, that would ensure that Antonio Brown would never play a down for the Oakland Raiders. Reason being, if the Raiders were to suspend Brown, he would not technically be on the opening day roster when they play Monday night against the Broncos. Which means he would not be guaranteed that thirty million dollars he was promised due to him breaking agreements in the contract.
It was an easy out for the Raiders. All they had to do was suspend him and get out of this mess before it got any worse. What did they do instead? Nothing. According to head coach Jon Gruden, Antonio Brown plans to play Monday. All is well. He apologized and is moving forward.
This brings up an interesting question: who is running the Raiders? It seems apparent that Mike Mayock wants Antonio Brown out of Oakland, but Jon Gruden wants him there. Mayock told reporters a few weeks ago when Antonio Brown was making all sorts of noise about wanting his old helmet that Brown needs to make up his mind about being all in or all out on the team. Yet, Jon Gruden has done everything to say he wants Brown there no matter what.
It seemed nothing more than the two of them playing good cop/bad cop. Gruden the good cop, Mayock the bad cop. Now it seems the Gruden is getting his way and Antonio Brown is not only staying in Oakland, but he is not getting suspended for his actions on Thursday, making him available to play on Monday.
Most people knew that it was going to be Jon Gruden’s team when he signed a 10-year, $100 million-dollar contract to be the head coach of the Oakland Raiders once again, but what we didn’t know is that Mike Mayock was going to be more of a face while Gruden called the shots.
It’s a bad look for Gruden, though. Here he gave up one of the best defensive players, if not the best, in the league for some draft picks, all because he didn’t want to pay Khalil Mack. Then he trades away Amari Cooper for a draft pick so he wouldn’t have to end up paying him as the Cowboys will be soon. All of that just to get Antonio Brown and pay him to be the third highest-paid wide receiver in the league.
This is a guy in Antonio Brown that secretly recorded and posted a video of his coach, Mike Tomlin, talking trash about the New England Patriots. This is a guy who almost killed a 22-month-old toddler when he was throwing furniture off the balcony of his apartment on the fourteenth floor. This is a guy who decided not to show up for a Week 17 game last season when there was a chance the Steelers could go to the playoffs with a win.
It wasn’t a bad gamble to give him a try and see if it works out. But given how this offseason has gone, with all the noise he’s made, if you have a way out of that deal, you take it. Most people are right to assume that people can change. Maybe Jon Gruden believed Antonio Brown could be different with a change of scenery.
The fact of the matter is Jon Gruden is too proud to admit that he’s wrong for trading and signing Antonio Brown. If they were to suspend and release him, it would be the third huge mistake in his eyes in just over a year. Oddly enough, him keeping Brown could turn out to be a huge mistake. But he doesn’t know when to count his losses. He’s been all over the place on what he values in his players. How could Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper not be good enough for you but Antonio Brown is?
Gruden will lose some of the locker room with allowing Antonio Brown to get away clean and continue to be a cancer on the team. The only way it doesn’t turn around to bite him in the rear is if Brown can be an absolute game-changer. He’ll be great, sure, but not many wide receivers lead teams to Super Bowls. Calvin Johnson, one of the best wide receivers of all time, couldn’t even help get the Lions a playoff win, let alone a trip to the Super Bowl.
So, unless or until Brown leads the Raiders to a Super Bowl, there is a big chance that this drama will fall back on Jon Gruden. Gruden probably has a free pass to do whatever he wants until after the Raiders make the move to Las Vegas, but he can do a lot of damage until then.
Regardless, the Raiders will be a team to watch. If Antonio Brown keeps his emotions in check, it seems he and Derek Carr could be a solid combo. They could surprise some people. Or they could be a complete disaster. There’s no telling how this season will go for the Oakland Raiders. Is it Monday yet?
