Report: Raiders’ Brown threatens to retire over helmet
Controversial star wants to wear one now ruled to be obsolete
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown has reportedly filed a grievance with the NFL — and threatened to quit football —over a league rule that prevents him from wearing his 10-year-old helmet.
ESPN reported that Brown had a two-hour conference call Friday with an independent arbitrator to state his case for why he should be able to use a helmet that is no longer certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment. League and union representatives were also on the call, and ESPN reported a ruling could come as early as next week.
Brown has not participated in a full practice for the Raiders after starting training camp on the non-football injury list with injuries to his feet that reportedly came from frostbite suffered while getting cryotherapy treatment in France. He was cleared to practice on July 28
and participated in part of two sessions but hasn’t been around the team the past few days.
Brown’s Schutt Air Advantage helmet is not allowed to be worn because of a league policy that players must wear helmets that are NOCSAE certified, the Associated Press reported. NOCSAE won’t recertify his helmet because it is more than 10 years old.
Schutt discontinued making the helmet three years ago because current technology had moved past it, according to the company.
Brown was one of 32 players using one of 11 helmets last season that are now banned by the league and players’ association. Those players, including Tom Brady, were able to use the helmets last season under a grace period but were required to make the change in 2019.
Brown has been the game’s most prolific receiver but was able to be acquired from Pittsburgh for just a third- and fifthround pick in March.
Brown had a messy divorce from the Steelers after averaging more than 100 catches and 1,500 yards receiving per season over the last six years. He got in trouble for livestreaming from the locker room after a playoff win over Kansas City in January 2017 and was pulled over for doing 100 mph in the northern Pittsburgh suburbs last fall.
KAEPERNICK: Colin Kaepernick is eager to prove he’s good enough to play in the NFL.
A person close to Kaepernick told the AP on Friday: “Colin has always been prepared to compete at the highest level and is in the best shape of his life.”
Kaepernick, 31, hasn’t played since 2016 with San Francisco. He helped start a wave of protests about social and racial injustice that season by kneeling during the national anthem at games. He drew strong criticism from President Donald Trump.
But Trump on Friday told reporters when asked if Kaepernick should play in the NFL: “Only if he’s good enough. I know the owners, I know Bob Kraft. They will do anything they can to win games.”
Friday exhibitions
STEELERS 30, BUCS 28: In Pittsburgh, Josh Dobbs and Mason Rudolph led the offense on four scoring drives as Pittsburgh defeated Tampa Bay.
In the third quarter, Rudolph
found Zach Gentry, the Steelers’ fifth-round pick and Eldorado alumnus, for a 3-yard score.
Jameis Winston led the Bucs’ first-team offense to a touchdown in his only offensive series against a Steelers defense that featured few regulars.
VIKINGS 34, SAINTS 25: In New Orleans, Kirk Cousins was flawless in his lone series in Minnesota’s new offensive scheme and backup Sean Mannion delivered a scoring pass under a heavy rush as the Vikings defeated New Orleans.
The game marked the Vikings’ first test of their new offense directed by coordinator Kevin Stefanski and influenced by adviser Gary Kubiak.