18 years ago it was in the blustery snowy conditions of Foxboro Stadium, when the Raiders were royally screwed over by the infamous "Tuck Rule" that launched the Patriots in the dynasty they still are today. Now, the Patriots have done it to Gruden and company again.
Shortly after troubled wide receiver Antonio Brown gave the Raiders no choice but to release him from his $30 million contract, Brown quickly signed with the Patriots for a one-year $15 million contract with a $9 million signing bonus.Only the Patriots could pull something like this off, because they have done it before.
Randy Moss. Rodney Harrison. Corey Dillon. It does not matter how troubled the star. When they throw on the Patriots "Flying Elvis" helmet, they suddenly shut up and play football -- because Bill Belichick demands it, and he has six rings to prove it.
The Patriots didn't need Antonio Brown to win the AFC East again this year.
They didn't even need him for the divisional playoff game that is sure to come in five months.
They needed him to beat the Steelers or Chiefs, or whichever poor sap awaits in the AFC title game. They needed him even more for the Super Bowl when and if the Saints, or Eagles or Rams are sitting there.
Congratulations New England on Super Bowl title number 7.
The season is over, and it hasn't even started yet.Antonio Brown bitched and moaned his way out of Oakland. Like a spoiled child who flops on the floor in the middle of a restaurant, kicking and screaming as his parents stand embarrassed while other patrons look on stunned, nobody wanted to touch Antonio Brown. He was toxic.
Is it mental? Does he have CTE? Is he out of his mind for throwing away an opportunity to make $30 million guaranteed? Yes. But, Brown is also smart enough to know that the Raiders weren't winning anything this season, or next, or anytime soon.
Don't blame the Raiders for this. They did everything they could to please Brown. They were willing to wait for him to heal from self-induced frostbite to his feet. They were willing to bat for him when he complained about his helmet, until the league told the Raiders that Brown has to wear a newly mandated helmet for safety.
Jon Gruden expressed his love for Brown, playing the "good cop." Mike Mayock was the "bad cop" or "drill sergeant" -- asking, demanding, even pleading with Brown to straighten up his act and show up to camp and be professional. When Mayock fined Brown this week, it was the last straw, as the troubled receiver when bonkers and nearly punched Manock in the face.
Brown was suspended, until he wasn't. Guden had convinced the Raiders to give the player he gave up a third and fifth-round pick to the Steelers to, a second chance. Instead, Brown flushed that quickly down the toilet, posting a video of a conversation he had with Gruden onto YouTube, featuring the head coach pleading with the receiver to knock off the nonsense and play football for Oakland.
Gruden reportedly tried to brush it off, but by that point, word had gotten out that the fine the Raiders extended Brown for "conduct detrimental to the team" had all but voided the $30 million in guarantees. Now the Raiders could get out of the contract without owing a dime. Brown responded by posting on Instagram that he wanted to be released from his contract.
By 11 ET Saturday, Brown got his wish.
By 2 pm. ET he was a Patriot.
You want to blame the Raiders? Go ahead, they knew what they were getting into with Brown -- a player who made enemies out of Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh the past two seasons. But, don't fault them for trying to make it work, because they did. But Brown didn't care. He wanted it his way, and got his way.
Now he heads to New England with no excuses. Think Bill Belichick and Tom Brady will stand for the kind of nonsense we have seen from Brown the past two months? Or the past two years? Of course not. If Brown falters, or misbehaves, the Patriots will swat him away like a fly and keep moving.
Expect to see an Antonio Brown on his best behavior over the next five months as the Patriots march their way to another Super Bowl title.
Did the Patriots devise this? Did Belichick and owner Robert Kraft lay in the weeds like a snake waiting for Brown to drop into their laps? It's possible. Anything is possible when it comes to the franchise that defined and redefined conspiracy's and cheating. We had Deflatgate, SpyGate, and now Brown-gate. And trust me the conspiracy's are flying high and mighty right now.
Happy opening day to the NFL season folks, it's over before it starts.
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