Football season is officially upon us, and if the Antonio Brown saga is any indication it should be a wild and woolly year.
New England badly wants Super Bowl number 7 to put them ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which would be even more amazing given the Pats have done it all with just one quarterback. Their's is a dynasty that stretches back to 2000 when the Patriots took Tom Brady in the 6th round. That's right, sixth round! Brady was the 199th player selected overall in that draft, and the only player from that draft class still playing at age 42. Love them or hate them, the Pats have created quite a system under Bill Belichick.
When Antonio Brown came available late last week, the Patriots didn't hesitate to grab him. Gronk had retired after 9 bruising years, leaving a gaping hole to fill in their receiver corps. But, was it a last minute deal, or something AB had facilitated thanks to his highly public disputes with the Raiders?
Not that it really matters in the greater scheme of things, but what struck me about this whole thing was how AB was able to use social media so effectively against both the Steelers and the Raiders to get what he ultimately wanted, a place on the New England roster. AB wants a Super Bowl ring, and it was clear that wasn't going to happen at either Pittsburgh or Oakland. The Steelers have been struggling ever since their last trip to the Super Bowl in 2010, when they lost to Green Bay. "Big Ben" Roethlisberger has been around almost as long as Brady, but the years haven't been quite so good to him. He shows his age, and AB wasn't afraid to let him know it, which is how this saga began.
Brown was constantly riding Big Ben to the point the Steelers couldn't stand it anymore, so when they had a chance to trade the All-Pro receiver to the Raiders for highly valued draft picks, they did so without a moment's hesitation.
Brown came to Oakland with a lot of fanfare. This was going to be the Raiders' year after a disappointing first season for returning coach Jon Gruden. But, Brown didn't appear to like the direction Oakland was headed and almost immediately began to create waves. At first, it just seemed like Antonio being Antonio. He complained about the new helmet regulations and a whole host of other things on social media, but then he began to skip meetings and practices and even preseason games, throwing the team into total disarray. Oakland tried fining him, even threatened him with a one-game suspension that would have null and voided his $30 million guarantee, but AB kept bitching and moaning, until finally the Oakland front office had enough and cut him.
The same day, New England reaches out to Brown with a $15 million one-year contract, $9 mil guaranteed, which left many sports pundits wondering how long this had been in the works? Other teams were interested in Brown, but it was clear where he wanted to go because he jumped at the deal before his agent had any chance to entertain other more lucrative offers.
This isn't the first time the Patriots have picked up a disgruntled superstar on the cheap. A few years back they picked up Randy Moss, who had similarly wore out his welcome at Oakland and Minnesota before that. Was AB emulating the same path Moss took to the Patriots? Only problem is that New England had a Super Bowl drought during the highly public Moss years, despite a stellar performance by the embattled receiver.
In fact, the Patriots have a way of getting more for less from all their players. Even with an unprecedented 6 Super Bowl rings, Tom Brady is paid far less than other top NFL quarterbacks. This allows the Pats to make cap room for other talented players they couldn't otherwise afford. Brady makes up for it in endorsements and all the attention he gets with his glamorous wife, Gisele Bundchen. So, Tom isn't poor-mouthing his situation.
Brady also knows that much of his success is built on the Belichick system, which essentially turns the game into a simulated model of angles and probabilities, weighing each and every play on its likelihood of success. As long as Tom remains his highly-efficient self the system runs smoothly, even if it hits a rough patch here or there. Tom has been to a staggering 9 Super Bowls, virtually one every two years of his long career. A record that probably never will be broken.
No team past or present can vouch for this kind of success, and this is why AB wants to play for New England and finally get that Super Bowl ring that has long eluded him. You have to be careful what you wish for because after 19 long years, the Pats are finally starting to show their age, even with a very impressive opening win over Pittsburgh yesterday. Randy Moss never got his ring at New England or any team for that matter.
Unfortunately, AB wasn't able to suit up for that game, so will have to hope the Pats meet the Steelers again in the playoffs to exact his revenge against his former team, and the friend he claims he never had in Big Ben.
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