Oakland Raiders: Overreactions, legitimate concerns about Antonio Brown

Overreaction: Brown Doesn’t Want to Play Football

Brown said he doesn’t need football in an interview with NFL Network’s Jeff Darlington before signing with the Raiders. That’s fine. He’s made millions playing the sport and earned endorsements along the way. The nine-year veteran probably doesn’t need to catch another ball to make it into the Hall of Fame.

The threat to retire sounds more like a temper tantrum or a throwaway comment out of frustration. We’ve all done this — say something out of frustration that you don’t really mean in reality.

Brown had a caption on a recent Instagram post from the movie Paid in Full, that seems a little different following the rumors of his threat to walk away from the NFL.

“I love the game; I love the hustle ; young-in got doe he can leave the league but if I leave will the fans still gone love me man? #paidinfull”

Perhaps it’s a coincidence or maybe Brown felt Money Makin Mitch’s line applied to him in the moment. Who knows? He’s well off financially, but it’s difficult to envision him giving back his guaranteed money over a dispute about a helmet.

Brown feels like the helmet hinders his vision, but a few practices and drives in the preseason would help him adjust to the headgear. He hasn’t addressed rumors publicly, but retirement on this issue seems highly unlikely.