Antonio Brown Quits NFL On Twitter After Guarantees Voided By Raiders, Patriots
ONN – Antonio Brown Quits NFL On Twitter After Guarantees Voided By Raiders, Patriots
Antonio Brown just quit the NFL via a tweet on Twitter just about an hour ago. He tweeted this message: “Will not be playing in the NFL anymore these owners can cancel deals do whatever they want at anytime we will see if the NFLPA hold them accountable sad they can just void guarantees anytime going on 40m 2 months will see if they pay up !”
Then, Brown, the former wide receiver of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots, was released by the Pats after the publication Sports Illustrated first unearthered a so-called “second accuser” and then the media organ set up a text message exchange that caused Brown to contact that same “second accuser” and leave insulting text messages to her that the magazine copied.
The resultant reaction from the New England Patriots was to release Brown on Thursday of last week. The Patriots owed him $9 million guaranteed. But, it seemed that the organization announced to him that they did not plan to pay him.
Each time an NFL team has taken an action that called for a terminated contract guarantee, Antonio Brown has reacted with a rash action. In the case of the Oakland Raiders, Brown asked to be released. In the case of the New England Patriots, Antonio Brown said he was going to quit the NFL.
Then, after the tweet storm, Antonio Brown posted tweets on the words of Master P about him and the result of sexual assault clams against Shannon Sharpe in 2010 and Ben Rothlisberger in 2006. He then posted a tweet reference to a report on The Daily Beast that New England Patriots fans threatened Robert Klemko, the Sports Illustrated man who wrote the articles that led to his Patriots release. Brown’s tweet read “Plan working accordingly”, as if he wanted Klemko to be harmed for what he wrote.
Britney Mychael Taylor Civil Lawsuit Filed After Oakland Raiders Released Brown
This all started with the Oakland Raiders signing Brown to a record (at the time) $50 million contract of which $30 million guaranteed, which, when added to the Steelers contract he was still getting money from, made him the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL.
Then, the NFL installed a new helmet safety rule that caused Brown to react emotionally. He wore the same helmet for nine years, then was asked to not use it. The Oakland Raiders in the form of Head Coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Mike Mayock said they were on Brown’s side.
Then, when Brown missed two days of practice, the same Mike Mayock came out to the press and gave a warning to Brown that it was time to come in and be a player with the team, or leave. Brown showed up the next day.
All of this was played out on HBO’s Hard Knocks Training Camp with The Oakland Raiders.
On Wednesday of that same week, Brown posted an Instagram photo of a letter he received from Mayock. The letter fined him just north of $40,000 for missing the two training camp sessions. Even though Brown made it known he was upset about the fine, Mayock did not call Brown to handle the matter privately. However, he did handle it in public.
Brown saw Mayock at Raiders Training Camp the next day, and depending on who you believe, either Mayock or Brown started the argument. But what is agreed on is that Brown threatened to hit Mayock in the face.
On Friday, the Raiders Mayock informed Brown that his fines had ballooned to $215,000, and his $30 million contract would be voided. Without the $30 million guarantee, Brown didn’t want to play for the Raiders. He asked to be let go, and the Mark Davis-Gruden-Mayock-led Raiders did just that on that Saturday morning.
Brown’s “unemployment” lasted just over five hours, or until, at 4 PM the same day, when he was picked up by the New England Patriots. The Super Bowl Champions signed him to a one-year, $14 million contract with $9 million, guaranteed. Fans were divided into different camps over the news, but it looked like Brown won in the court of public opinion over the Oakland Raidwrs.
That was not to last. First, came the sexual assault civil lawsuit filed by Taylor, but it was revealed she had asked for as much as $10 million in private settlement talks before Brown said no. That, by circumstance, seemed to ignite the next series of events. For Brown, it started with the posting of a video that seemed to make Britney Mychael Taylor look like she was in search of a pay-day. This one:
Who Helped Sports Illustrated’s Robert Klemko With Media Hit Story?
What happened after that was perhaps the strangest and arguably wild part of this entire story. First, Brown spent the week preparing with the New England Patriots and for the game against the Miami Dolphins. Antonio Brown made his debut in a Patriots uniform that Sunday September 14th. He caught four passed and score a touchdown, and was close to hauling in another one. In all, it was an impressive performance.
Second, the following week, it was revealed that there was a “second accuser” of what was first called sexual assault. But this wasn’t from a police investigation, it was only from Sports Illustrated.
It’s reporter, Robert Klemko, first wrote an article that consisted of kind of a “tour” of people who had some kind of beef, legal or otherwise, with Brown. It was clear Klemko received more than the normal level of information about Brown, and did so quickly. The article included a report of a woman who was hired by Brown to make a painting for him. Allegedly, she says that Brown came out in nothing but a towel covering his private area. But the Robert Klemko article does not report what she said – but it did call that encounter “sexual assault” in a clear example of “gaslighting”.
Gaslighting is where a person works to describe something as being worse than it is, or working to discredit the person who’s the focus of the subject by telling what amounts to a near-fabrication. Or the person’s ideas are discredited as if they never happened: “Oh, that’s not racist” is one example thrown to blacks who complain about racism.
But Robert Klemko didn’t stop there; he engineered a text message encounter with Brown that the Pats wide receiver should not have participated in. Klemko shared the “second accuser” story with Brown. But Brown stupidly contacted the woman via text and insulted her. Not surprisingly, the women considered his actions as more than they were, using the term “intimidating” when “insulting” was more accurate. Regardless, he should not have had any communication with Robert Klemko or the woman, but it was too late.
The New England Patriots were tired of being peppered with questions about Brown from the media, and so Robert Kraft made the decision to cut Antonio Brown.
But the question remains: who gave Robert Klemko the information he needed to make the calls he made to write the story. Sports Illustrated and Robert Klemko referred to a “research staff” but the so called staff has to have something to research. Who gave Robert Klemko a cache of documents that would add up to a file on Antonio Brown? Who would have that level of research on a player that would comprise a file? Answer: an NFL team.
This blogger does not defend what Antonio Brown has alleged to have done, but then it’s equally wrong to set up a man, Brown, who obviously needs help. What Sports Illustrated did wasn’t “the truth”, as Peter King wrote to me on Twitter. It wasn’t journalism, and this blogger doesn’t claim to be a journalist. It was a clear media hit job that consisted only of people who had nothing good to say about Brown. It wasn’t fair or balanced.
What Are We To Make Of Women In NFL Lockers Rooms Interviewing Naked Players In The Wake Of S.I.’s Accusations Against Antonio Brown?
In the famous sports-themed movie Jerry McQuire, there’s a scene where a woman is interviewing an obviously naked NFL player. We only see his backside. Then, the woman accidentally drops her mic, and tries to feel around to find it to avoid putting her eyes in ‘the wrong place.’ In the wake of claims against Antonio Brown made by the woman Sports Illustrated unearthed as the “second accuser”, are we to now think that famous scene was, as the publication initially described it, “sexual assault”?
The answer is no. But, it’s certainly an example of media gaslighting. Now, because of the publication, the NFL is backed into a corner and has to investigate that claim, too.
But that be the case, what are we to make of CBS late night star James Cordin’s sisters deliberately going into NFL Locker Rooms just to interview naked men? Does that mean any many who’s in his work environment can be accused of “sexual assault”? Have a look at this YouTube video from that show, and keep in mind this was sanctioned by the National Football League:
And remember, Brown was said to have his mid-section covered. And in Jerry McGuire, a number of scenes featured athletes either nude or a scene that implied nudity.
Again, does the way Sports Illustrated interpreted the “second accuser” claim as “sexual assault” mean that any many who’s in his athletic locker room work environment can be accused of “sexual assault”? In this case, the answer should be a resounding no.
This isn’t to say that Antonio Brown should not have put some clothes on for his visitor, but compared to the NFL-backed James Cordin Show example, at least he covered himself up. The climate that allows this convenient double-standard exists – and it was used by a media company against an NFL player.
Does Antonio Brown Have Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) After Vontaze Burfict hit?
Given his rash reactions, it’s fair to ask if Antonio Brown has what’s called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) after Cincinnati Bengals and now Oakland Raiders Linebacker Vontaze Burfict hit him January 10th, 2016? All of the actions that were recorded by Robert Klemko happened over a year after that incident. Brown was put on what’s called concussion protocol, but he should have been allowed to play the 2017 Season, where he sustained more hits to the head?
If Brown does have Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), then it’s wrong for so many people to enable his problem. If one knows he can react in a rash way, they they should not take actions that cause him to do so, or if they do, they should work to mitigate the problem. No one in the NFL has done that, and the media in the form of Sports Illustrated, just used it to its advantage.
Stay tuned.
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