Antonio Brown is not happy and neither is Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock. Sunday, that boiled over into the media.
Brown is ticked because the NFL won’t certify the helmets he’s been digging out of the trash all over the country to try to beat their 10-year safety ban. The old helmets, even the lids he found that would fit under the decade-long ban, couldn’t pass the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment safety inspection.
The NFL and NFLPA have worked hand in hand on Antonio Brown’s helmet issue. On Monday night, they jointly said the helmet model AB wants to use would be tested at same lab in Ottawa as other helmets. It failed. NFL and NFLPA engineers concurred. Thus it may not be worn.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 18, 2019
When he head this, Brown tweeted his displeasure, saying “NFL N—-s For Life! Super Prejudice unbelievable!”
But, you know, so what? Brown is just going to have to wear a helmet that will actually keep his head relatively undamaged. But he was not having it and Sunday he didn’t show up to practice. Again.
Mayock was not pleased, holding an impromptu press conference after practice.
“You all know that A.B. is not here today,” Mayock said. “So here’s the bottom line. He’s upset about the helmet issue. We have supported that. We appreciate that. At this point, we’ve pretty much exhausted all avenues of relief. So from our perspective, it’s time for him to be all in or all out. We’re hoping he’s back soon. We got 89 guys busting their tails. We are really excited about where this franchise is going. And we hope A.B. is going to be a big part of it. End of story. No questions.”
Show up with your helmet and practice…or get the hell out of here.pic.twitter.com/LzIj0Aev0S
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) August 18, 2019
And with that, the man did not take questions.
One way or another, this is all about to wrap up. If there was any mystery left as to why the Pittsburgh Steelers would load A.B. in to the catapult and pull the lever for third and fifth-round picks, this entire helmet saga has solved it forever.
Brown, of course, still has frostbitten feet and that’s an issue. What can no longer be a problem is this helmet fiasco. Mayock made that abundantly clear Sunday.
