Antonio Brown took his formidable talents and interesting on-and-off-the-field behavior from Pittsburgh to Oakland this past offseason.
Will one negate the other?
How much distraction can a team take?
Will Jon Gruden’s head explode before the season even starts, or sometime before Thanksgiving?
They said they wanted to bring back some of the old Oakland Raiders personality, which always had strings attached. Now they’ve got it in “A.B.,” a Hall of Fame caliber superstar, who wore out his welcome with the Pittsburgh Steelers. From all accounts, the team out East had bent over backwards to accommodate behavior and comments which weren’t always in line with what was best for the team.
In a few short weeks of camp with the Raiders, A.B. had put the “D” in “Distraction.” First, as a late arrival with a mysterious foot condition that kept him out of practice. Eventually it was revealed he had severely frostbitten feet — a result of forgetting to wear special socks while receiving cryotherapy in France.
Next, AB was served up a lawsuit by a celebrity chef who claims he was stiffed $38K over Pro Bowl weekend.
Finally, he informed his team that unless he could wear his old helmet (which was no longer approved by the NFL), he would no longer play football. Keep in mind he received a $68 million contract that made him the highest paid receiver in the NFL after arriving in Oakland.
This drama continues to unfold with appeals and side stories, including the fact that AB may benefit hugely as helmet companies line up to create a custom helmet and pay him for it.
Much of this we see unfold on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” a usually entertaining peek into an NFL program’s training camp. This week’s episode appeared to be an all-out effort to repair his reputation by visiting with him as he opened fan mail; recording him hanging with a high school football team; and of course, signing lots of autographs.
Raiders’ management clearly had some editorial control there. I can’t blame them, though, after witnessing the dirty laundry and distractions of past Hard Knocks seasons that didn’t exactly ease those teams into September. Probably material for another cartoon…
Follow Karl on Twitter @KarlWimer and check out his work at www.KarlWimer.com
