The Oakland Raiders released Antonio Brown on Saturday, just a day after coach Jon Gruden said Brown was ready to move on from his off-field controversies and play Week 1 against the Broncos.
On Saturday morning, Brown asked for his release from the team in an Instagram post, and news broke that the Raiders had fined Brown $215k for conduct detrimental to the team, a penalty that would void his $29 million in remaining guarantees.
The previous night, just a few hours after Gruden welcomed Brown back to the team, Brown released a YouTube video that contained a recording of a conversation the wide receiver had with Gruden. During the call, Brown asserted that he had proven to the Raiders that he was dedicated to the team, and questioned whether the organization wanted him.
(Warning: video contains profanity)
On Saturday afternoon, two days before the Raiders’ season opener, Gruden said that the team “exhausted everything” in an effort to make the relationship with Brown work, and that he was sorry he never got the chance to coach Brown.
Gruden also had an excellent response when asked about Brown’s video.
Reporter: “Jon, was that your voice on the recording that he put on the video?”
Gruden: “It might have been Frank Caliendo. I don’t know. I’ve got to check with Antonio on that.”
Caliendo, of course, does a legendary Gruden impression.
