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Antonio Brown sought social media advice to expedite release from the Raiders

The Patriots quickly signed Brown, prompting plenty of Bill Belichick-centric memes.

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Kahron Spearman

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Posted on Sep 9, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 4:27 am CDT

New Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown may have sought guidance from professional social media consultants for ways to hasten his contractual release from the Oakland Raiders, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter NFL Network’s Mike Giardi.

Brown’s turbulent stay with Oakland officially ended Saturday, when the Raiders cut the All-Pro receiver. His release capped a series of unusual events, including a public fallout between Brown and general manager Mike Mayock regarding a set of fines the player rejected. Brown previously shared the letter he received from the Raiders’ front office on his Instagram story.

The subsequent argument—in which Brown called Mayock a “cracker” and angrily punted a football—pushed the Raiders over the edge. Brown later apologized to the team, and the Raiders announced Friday that he was expected to suit up for the team’s season opener against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.

However, the argument led to the Pro Bowler being fined over $215,000 for “conduct detrimental to the team.” The fine, and its reasoning, enabled the Raiders to void the remaining $29.125 million of guaranteed money. Just before his release, Brown told NFL insiders he would not play without his guarantees.

Brown then posted on Instagram asking the Raiders to release him from his contract.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2HGYq2B2uT/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

NFL insider Adam Schefter posted another video of Brown running ecstatically around his backyard after learning of his release.

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1170448141344223233?s=20

Brown swiftly signed with the New England Patriots, who previously desired to trade a first-round pick for the receiver but were rebuffed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Brown’s 2018 team.

ESPN later learned that Brown had been engineering a release all along. In a tweet, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen wrote that Brown “also sought out advice from social media consultants for ideas on how [to] accelerate his release [from] Raiders. The first blow was posting the letter from Mike Mayock informing him of fines that included ‘conduct detriment,’ which led to the next day confrontation.”

Of course, the internet had immediate jokes, as people shared various memes positioning Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as the mastermind behind Brown’s release.

“Just call him a cracker, your flight leaves at 9AM Monday,” one meme depicts Belichick saying.

The Patriots sound like they are excited to have Brown, even after Sunday night’s 33-3 drubbing of Brown’s former team, the Steelers.

https://twitter.com/AJTalkNFL/status/1171035106594762755?s=20

But of course, many are disappointed to the point of hyperbole. “What we have just witnessed is the most unprofessional act that I can ever remember seeing in professional sports,” Mike Greenburg said on ESPN’s Get Up!

“I can’t excuse the kind of behavior that he has exhibited,” ESPN First Take commentator Stephen A. Smith said. “He should be ashamed of himself. His family should be ashamed of him. His friends should be ashamed of him.”

Based on his aforementioned celebration video, Brown doesn’t seem too bothered by these opinions.

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H/T Daily Mail

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*First Published: Sep 9, 2019, 12:35 pm CDT

Kahron Spearman

Kahron Spearman is the community manager for the Daily Dot and Nautilus magazine. He’s also a journalist, copywriter, and host of “Discovery with Kahron Spearman” on KAZI 88.7.

Kahron Spearman