Antonio Brown Crazy Like a Fox

Antonio Brown Crazy Like a Fox. Not sure that is true but he ended up in a better place.  I never got the feeling that Antonio Browns time with the Raiders was for the long haul.  The way the trade happened.  How the off season and the preseason played out. It never seemed like this was a relationship that was going to last.  Antonio Brown as never going to give the Raiders the Rose.  It really did have a bachelor kind of feeling with how things were going on between Brown and the Raiders.

The way everything played out since the Raiders signed Brown in March was like a script for a soap opera.  When the Steelers let Brown go for a Third and a Fifth round pick.  There were alarm sounds going off all over the place.  The Patriots had offered more.  It really seemed like the Steelers wanted to punish Brown because of some of the things he had said and done.  Brown went out of town tweeting and throwing out all kinds of comments.

His time with the Raiders was pretty much the same.  There was little doubt that Antonio Brown has been aboard the Crazy Train.  I was pretty sure that Brown was not going to play out his whole contract in Oakland.  Not sure how much he was actually going to play this year for them.  But I am sure that few people were thinking that the number of games he plays for the Raiders was going to be Zero.

The way that his release was orchestrated makes you think it was almost planned out.  That would be the conspiracy theory of all football conspiracy theories.  The Patriots really wanted Brown offering a first round pick.  The Steelers really did not want Brown to go to the Patriots.  Scared that they would pay a price when they played the Patriots.  The Steelers look for a partner that they can trade Brown to.  They find the Gullible Mike Mayock and the Raiders.  The Steelers just wanting to be rid of Brown.  The Raiders thinking they are getting a steal by only giving up a third and fifth rounder complete the deal.  The Steelers Laugh.  So do the Raiders.  Both teams thinking the won this deal.  Bill Belichick just kind of smiles and takes a drink of his coffee.  Thinking the plan is in motion.

Did this really happen that way.  Probably not but I would not be at all surprised if it did.  Brown wanted to go to the Patriots.  The Steelers did not want him to go there.  The Patriots wanted Brown so there had to be a way to make this happen.  I am sure that if it did happen that way.  The frozen feet were not part of the plan.  As long as their is no permanent damage it is a good touch.  The rest of it.  The helmet all the posts and drama certainly could be part of the plan to get the Raiders to release him.  In order for that plan to work.  There had to be a gullible GM.  Mike Mayock fit that profile.  Brown may be crazy but in this case it worked out like he was a fox.

Of course this is not the first time a top five receiver was unhappy in Oakland and left for the Patriots.  It makes you think of 2007 when Randy Moss was disappearing in Oakland only to leave for the Patriots and have the best season of his career.  Even though the combination of Tom Brady and Randy Moss did not lead to a Super Bowl win.  It did create some very exciting plays and an undefeated regular season.  They really should have won that Super Bowl against the Giants but that is the way it goes.

Will the addition of Brown make that same difference for the 2019 Patriots?  Yes I think that it will.  The Patriots already had one of the most talented rosters in the Tom Brady Era.  Losing Gronk was huge but there were plenty of players to fill in.  Now you add one of the top five receivers in the league.  It will be an exciting year.  Pretty sure you can not completely stop Antonio Brown from saying some crazy things.  The Patriots are well equipped to deal with him.