Fridays are usually quite slow as far as sports news goes, and especially so this time of year. This Friday is quite different, though, as Antonio Brown has personally powered the news cycle.
First came reports Brown went dark and the team didn’t know where he was. Then came a massive exposé in the form of a 20-tweet thread from Michael Silver that demonstrated just how poorly the AB-Raiders partnership has been going. Finally, Adam Schefter swooped in with the cherry on top of the sundae: Brown will refuse to play football unless he gets to wear his specific helmet.
The league is enforcing new helmet safety protocols this season. Brown isn’t the only one who has complained; Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers were among those displeased with the new rules that required them to switch helmets. But they didn’t react like this.
Per an earlier Schefter tweet, Brown is filing a grievance with the league for the right to wear his old helmet. It appears there’s far more riding on that judgement than anyone thought.
