Raiders on verge of suspending Brown
Star receiver Antonio Brown was not with the Oakland Raiders four days before the season opener amid reports he could be suspended over a confrontation with general manager Mike Mayock.
Mayock said at the beginning of practice Thursday that Brown, a Miami Norland graduate, wasn’t at the Raiders facility and won’t be practicing a day after Brown posted a letter from the GM on social media detailing nearly $54,000 in fines.
“I’ll make it short and sweet,” Mayock said. “Antonio Brown is not in the building today, won’t be practicing. I don’t have any more information for you right now. When I have some and it becomes appropriate you guys will all get it. But that’s it for today.”
ESPN reported earlier Thursday that the two had a confrontation the previous day over the posting of the letter and that the Raiders plan to suspend Brown. Teams have the right under the collective bargaining agreement to suspend players up to four games for conduct detrimental to the team.
A suspension would also void the more than $29 million in guarantees over the next two seasons contained in Brown’s contract with the Raiders.
This is just the latest development in a dramatic first season in Oakland for Brown, who has yet to step on the field for a game with his new team.
The Raiders acquired the game’s most prolific receiver after he wore out his welcome in Pittsburgh. Oakland gave up only a third- and fifth-round pick for the four-time All-Pro receiver and gave him a hefty raise with a new three-year contract worth $50.125 million.
But Brown was unable to practice at the start of training camp after getting frost bite on his feet during a cryotherapy accident in France.
Brown was activated July 28 and took part in one walkthrough and part of one practice before leaving the team to get treatment for his feet and to fight the NFL and the NFLPA over his helmet.
Brown lost two grievances with the league in his attempt to use an old helmet now banned for safety reasons. He skipped practice on Aug. 18, prompting Mayock to issue an ultimatum for Brown to be “all in or all out” and also to hand him a $40,000 fine.
Brown returned to the team the following day but then missed a mandatory walkthrough before an exhibition game in Winnipeg on Aug. 22, leading to a second fine of $13,950.
Brown publicized those fines on his Instagram account Wednesday. Brown also wrote on the account: “WHEN YOUR OWN TEAM WANT TO HATE BUT THERE’S NO STOPPING ME NOW DEVIL IS A LIE. EVERYONE GOT TO PAY THIS YEAR SO WE CLEAR.”
That apparently prompted the latest run-in with Mayock and now leaves Brown’s status with the team in doubt ahead of Monday night’s opener at home against the Denver Broncos.
ELSEWHERE
Rams: Tight end Tyler Higbee ● agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $31.025 million with Los Angeles. A person with knowledge of the deal says Higbee is guaranteed $15.5 million and could make $36 million over the course of the contract, which runs through the 2023 season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms weren’t publicly disclosed by the team.
Higbee has played in every game during his three seasons with the Rams, who drafted him in the fourth round out of Western Kentucky in 2016. He has 60 career catches for 672 yards and four touchdowns, and he is a dependable blocker on runs and passes.
Browns: Cleveland star wide
● receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said he’s still slowed by a hip injury that sidelined him in the preseason. Beckham was kept out of the four exhibition games to manage the unspecified ailment. The threetime Pro Bowler said he’s been “afraid to open up” and run as fast as he can to this point.
Broncos: Denver has partnered
● with Empower Retirement on a 21-year, $6 million-a-year deal to name their stadium “Empower Field at Mile High.” The Metropolitan Football Stadium District will meet this week to sign off on the agreement that runs through 2039 and ends a three-year span without a title sponsor for the stadium that opened in 2001.
Obituary: Bobby Dillon, the
●
Green Bay Packers’ career leader in interceptions who lost his left eye following two childhood accidents, died Aug. 22 in Temple, Texas. He was 89. The New York Times reported that Dillon’s daughter, Karen Gooch, said the cause was complications of dementia. Dillon played safety for Green Bay from 1952-59, setting the franchise record for interceptions with 52.