"Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
Alfred Pennyworth was on to something.
No, Antonio Brown isn't a superhero movie villain, but it's fair to call him a joker after his six-month stint with the Raiders ended in the most bizarre way possible with his release Saturday. His tweets hours later didn't do anything to distance himself from that comparison.
"The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth"— AB (@AB84) September 7, 2019
What, you thought he was going to keep quiet?
If anything has been made clear since the Raiders acquired Brown from the Steelers for third and fifth-round draft picks, it's that there is no end to the circus that follows him wherever he goes.
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He forced his way out of Pittsburgh, got frostbite on his feet, held out over a helmet dispute, got into a verbal altercation with the GM, called out the organization on social media, (illegally?) recorded the head coach, and posted it to YouTube. All in six months.
Did I miss anything?
There's no question that Brown is one of the best receivers in the league when he's on the field, but the distraction became too much to bear for the Raiders, and they cut bait. It's not as if they didn't give Brown plenty of chances. It became obvious that the circus would continue throughout the season, and based on another one of his tweets Saturday morning, it's fair to wonder if a rift would have developed with quarterback Derek Carr.
Bumper Carrs— AB (@AB84) September 7, 2019
Note the spelling (and plurality). Now, it appears Brown's tweet was in reference to comments made by Derek's brother, David, on NFL Network after word of the release, in which the elder Carr communicated that his brother was ready to move on.
"The word that he used, and the word that kind of make the point to me, is relief," David Carr said. "And not that he's happy to see Antonio go ... but there's also a relief, like a huge sigh of relief. That, 'OK, now that drama is kind of behind us. We can move forward with the focus of our football team.'"
[RELATED: Why AB-Raiders divorce leaves no winners, only questions]
The drama might be behind the Raiders, and now they can move forward without the never-ending distraction, no matter how talented he might be. But if you think this is the last we've heard from Brown on the subject, clearly you haven't been paying attention.
