Antonio Brown: The Entire Debacle And Saga So Far

Antonio Brown was arguably the best wide receiver of his generation, and the numbers would agree. In his first 9 seasons, Brown hauled in...

The NFL is no stranger to diva wide receivers. Throughout their 100 year reign, we’ve seen characters like Michael Irvin, Randy Moss, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, Terrell Owens and Odell Beckham Jr., but never anyone like Antonio Brown.

Antonio Brown was arguably the best wide receiver of his generation, and the numbers would agree. In his first 9 seasons, Brown hauled in 837 receptions for over 11,000 yards and 74 touchdowns, but it's his 10th and final season where it all came crashing down for AB.

Although, people that watched the uber talented Pittsburgh Steelers closely could identify cracks forming way before then.

Brown was introduced to the Steelers in 2010 as a humble 21-year old who already had a chip on his shoulder after being drafted 195th overall out of Central Michigan University. Brown explained his reasoning behind choosing the number 84, stating, “Eight times four is 32. 32 teams looked passed me, even the Steelers. Every time I go out there, it’s a little added motivation.”

After a slow start in his first season, Brown quickly turned things around in his 2nd year, totaling 69 receptions, over 1,100 yards, and earning Pro-Bowl honors in addition to a brand new 5-year, $42.5 million contract.

In just two years, Brown went from a broke student athlete at a no name school who was touted as the 37th best receiver in his class, to a star multi-millionaire before the age of 25. His teammates recall Brown saying things like “Don’t touch me. I’m the franchise,” in practices after signing his lucrative deal, the first of many alarming signs.

Between 2013-2015, Brown balled out. He put up mind boggling numbers, going for over 5,000 yards, catching 31 touchdowns, and claiming a division title in that span.

By this time the All-Pro receiver had been known to be a bit outlandish and reckless, getting fined multiple times for twerking after scoring and wearing cleats against the NFL’s policy, but it was during the 2016 postseason when his teammates and the media grew tired of Brown’s antics.

After defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 18-16, sending the Steelers to the AFC championship game, Brown decided to share the intimacy of the Pittsburgh locker room with the world, going on FB live which caught head coach Mike Tomlin calling the team standing in their way of a Super Bowl appearance “assholes”. Brown’s reckless use of social media had upset not only his team but the guy throwing him the ball, Big Ben. In a reoccurring trend, Brown is fined and a week later those same Patriots, with all the motivation they needed, crushed Brown’s Steelers.

At this point, his teammates were quickly growing tired of the diva Brown had become but his talent and on-field production was still outweighing the headaches he caused, that was until the 2017 season.

The rift between him and Roethlisberger was evident all season long, none more obvious then a week 4 incident which saw Brown lose his shit on the sideline over a miscommunication between the two. This season ended more even disappointing than the last as the Steelers lost in the divisional round to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The 2018 season was literally the beginning of the end for Antonio Brown. Before the season even began, Brown was accused of throwing furniture outside of his 14-story apartment and nearly hitting a toddler. Security cam footage confirms the toddler was almost hit, but Brown denied that he is the one who threw the furniture. The father of the toddler sued him, and the case was eventually settled.

The chemistry between Big Ben and Brown remained unchanged, the Steelers were winning but not the way Brown would have liked. In Week 2, the gunslinger ran in a touchdown himself but Brown was frustrated he was not the one to score. After the game, a former Steelers PR man tweets that Brown is only good because of the Steelers QB, and Ben got him paid. Brown’s response via Twitter: “Trade me, let’s find out.” It is quickly deleted.

Their relationship quickly turned ugly after that, whether it was blaming each other in scrimmages, hurling balls at one another, or skipping practice.

Before a key Week 17 matchup, Smith-Schuster is named team MVP. A pissed off Antonio Brown lambasts his own teammate for a fumble that cost Pittsburgh the game the week prior. Brown is benched for game against the Bengals, which is a must win to keep playoff hopes alive. The Steelers win, but don’t make the playoffs when the Cleveland Browns lost to the Ravens.

AB stormed out of the locker room at half without a word to any of his teammates or coaches. He would later announce that it was “time to move on”.

During offseason, Antonio Brown made it clear through social media that he wanted out of Pittsburgh even after signing a four year extension worth $68 million just a year prior. At this point the Steelers were so desperate to rid themselves of the drama-filled Brown that they traded him to the Oakland Raider for two mid-round picks while still taking on the 30 million of dead money that was left on Browns contract.

With his wish now fulfilled, you’d think the drama and antics would die down right? Wrong! It was only just the beginning. After signing a new three-year, $50.125 million contract extension with Oakland, Brown would face his first of many hurdles during that infamous offseason.

Antonio Brown chose to make his first Raiders appearance by arriving on the first day of training camp in a hot air balloon, even though he couldn’t practice due to a frostbite injury he suffered on the bottom of his feet by wearing the wrong footwear during a cryotherapy session. Even though he couldn’t take the field, Brown’s social media presence only grew during the time he was sidelined.

A few days later, Brown finally took the field with his new team, a good sign right? The problem was that an even bigger hurdle was waiting. Brown left practice early when he was told that he couldn’t wear his desired helmet, which had been deemed unsafe by the NFL. The Raiders, who just shelled out $30 million in guaranteed money to this man, were quickly growing frustrated. Browns refusal to wear any other helmet other than that specific one led to him to petition to the league, a petition that was subsequently denied. And through it all, Brown began a social media wildfire.

This incident would fuel the rest of Brown’s tumultuous exit out of the league as his fight with the league would lead him to missing several Raiders practices. Brown was treated as any other employee that had missed work and was subsequently fined by General Manager Mike Mayock. But instead of simply paying the fine and moving on from it all, in typical AB fashion, he decided to post the fine on his social media stating “When your own team want to hate but there’s no stopping me now devil is a lie. Everyone got to pay this year so we clear @Raiders”.

That very same day Brown and Mayock got into a heated confrontation that led to him calling Mayock a “cracker.” Yes, a cracker, not to mention a bombardment of other cuss words as Vontaze Burfict of all people was forced to hold Brown back.

The heated confrontation didn’t stop Brown from announcing he had just signed a deal with Xenith to wear their specialized helmets.

The very next day the Raiders announced Antonio Brown would be suspended for “conduct detrimental to the team”, an announcement no one was surprised by but a move that put Brown’s guaranteed money in jeopardy. Now realizing that the new contract he worked so hard to obtain is now at risk AB issued an emotional apology to the entire team and staff as Gruden stated that “Antonio is back today. We're excited about that. Ready to move on.”

No wide receiver in recent memory had been given as many opportunities and passes as Brown but it looked like the player and team were ready to move past it all.

That was until a few hours later when Antonio Brown posted a professionally edited video about the drama filled saga since joining the Raiders. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Brown included a phone call he had with Gruden that was recorded without the coach’s consent, a criminal offense.

If Brown was trying to push the notion that it was time to move on from all the drama that put his career with the Raiders in jeopardy, he did a horrible job.

The morning after lighting a wildfire on social media, Brown was in fact fined $215,000 for conduct detrimental to the team but the act was much bigger than just a fine, by doing so the Raiders voided the almost $30 million of guaranteed money on Brown’s deal. The guaranteed money was a main reasons Brown drove himself out of Pittsburgh and to Oakland and without it Brown said there was “no way” he was taking the field.

Antonio Brown announced via Instragram, as if there was any other way, he wished to be released by the Raiders and at noon his wish was granted. But of course it wouldn’t be complete without Brown releasing a 48 second clip that featured him the moment he found out he had been “freed”.

The nearly six month saga, one in which we have never seen before by a professional athlete, was over… in Oakland.

Four hours after his release from Oakland, Brown’s agent announced the receiver had reached an agreement with, of all teams, the New England Patriots on a one-year deal worth up to $15 million.

Here is when things get legally serious for Brown.

Three days after the announcement he would sign with the Patriots, Brown’s former trainer and college acquaintance Britney Taylor filed a civil suit claiming she had been the victim of 3 separate instances of sexual assault/rape by the hands of Brown.

A timeline which some even saw as amusing quickly turned serious and tragic as the Xenith, the helmet deal Brown pushed so hard for, ended their relationship with Brown once the allegations came out.

Antonio Brown would suit up for the Patriots in the second week of the season but it would be his only game. In addition to Taylor’s allegations, Brown was also facing another accusation of sexual misconduct by an artist he hired detailed in a report by Sports Illustrated that told the story of multiple domestic incidents involving the receiver as well as multiple unpaid debts. It seemed as if it was all catching up to Brown as he was soon dropped by Nike as well.

With his world quickly crashing down, Brown apparently sent “threatening” text messages to the artists accusing him of misconduct.

Thirteen days after signing Brown, the Patriots released him stating they felt “that it is best to move in a different direction at this time.” Now having lost it all, Brown went on twitter stating that he was done with the NFL and took shots at Patriots owner

Robert Kraft and Ben Roethlisberger who had accusations of sexual misconduct themselves.

Since being out of football, Brown’s life, as told through social media, has taken a turn for the worst, while clamoring for a return to the NFL just weeks after telling the world he would never play again Brown issued apologies to Kraft, Tom Brady, and head coach Bill Belichick, but his erratic behavior only proved he still wasn’t in a mental state to return to any form of action.

In December, Brown went on instagram live and streamed a confrontation with police. Brown can be heard asking the policeman why they keep allowing this “girl” onto his property, and clearly stating that they were just at his house the day before, adding in a “F*** the police” on their way out.

A month later, Brown went live once again but was much angier. With police arriving because of a reported domestic disturbance, Brown can be seen calling the mother of his children a bitch as she spoke with police as his children standing alongside her.

Antonio Brown exploded with a barrage of cuss words directed at the police and his ex.

With the receivers life and freedom on the ropes, Brown was officially turned himself into Broward County police after he was charged with assaulting a delivery truck driver who he not only refused to pay for delivering household items but was pelted with rocks when he tried to leave.

While Brown posted bail, he was forced to give up his passport, weapons and was demanded to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Brown’s saga is far from over but for now, it appears the former All-Pro has taken a break from social media and is trying his best to mend the bridges he so famously burned.