The Denver Broncos never assumed Antonio Brown would be out Monday night, and they turned out to be right. They will face AB in Oakland.
Never a doubt, right?
Antonio Brown, his new helmet, his cryotherapy destroyed feet, and the rest of Raider Nation will be present to host the Denver Broncos in the Black Hole on Monday Night Football, the final MNF game to be played in Oakland.
Jon Gruden confirmed Brown’s return to the media, and Brown issued a short statement to the media which involved the statement, “Enough talk…”
You really can’t make this stuff up.
Antonio Brown’s statement. He took no questions. #Raiders pic.twitter.com/cKJC4Lmwmn
— Jerry McDonald (@Jerrymcd) September 6, 2019
Brown is an excellent player. As a matter of fact, he’s one of the best to ever play the position, probably, at least in this era of football.
He also has been a huge distraction for the Steelers and Raiders over the last two years, as we documented in our Thursday piece on the whole situation.
At this time literally just 24 hours ago, it seemed like there was a real chance Brown would not play for the Raiders in week one, or possibly at all this season. The possibility of losing $30 million will get you back in team colors pretty quick, however.
Brown’s antics this offseason have ultimately cost him nothing. Even threatening and shouting at his boss — Mike Mayock — ultimately has resulted in nothing.
The Raiders have set a bad precedent in my eyes, but as we’ve seen time and time again in the NFL, it’s all about football. Mayock seemed like a GM trying to run his team with integrity, and Brown doesn’t seem to like having someone else call the shots.
Thankfully, Vic Fangio and the Denver Broncos will not be caught off guard by Brown’s presence in the game. Fangio told the media on Friday that the Broncos have been preparing as though Brown would play and never really considered the fact that he might not.
Business as usual for the Broncos, but not exactly “boomin” for the Raiders.