Antonio Brown’s offseason saga settled into a state of normalcy Tuesday as the All-Universe wide receiver returned to the Oakland Raiders after being sidelined with frostbitten feet and threatening to retire over his favorite helmet getting banned by the NFL.
“I’m extremely grateful to be here,” Brown told reporters. “I’m dealing with a lot of adversity. It’s on the up and up, so I’m excited to be back and see my teammates and get in the groove of things here shortly.”
"I’m excited to be back and see my teammates and get in the groove of things here shortly.”
How @ab84 made his return to Training Camp, plus a look ahead to Arizona all in the Training Camp Notebook » https://t.co/rUaq6Bwa0n pic.twitter.com/20a2QBBdVy
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) August 13, 2019
The threat to retire was ignored and the issue now is Brown’s feet. According to A.B., he’s improving day by day.
“I feel a lot better,” Brown said. “Working towards 100 percent. It’s been a process with the feet. Anytime you know you got a lot of blisters, it’s hard to change direction, cut and run and be able to do what I do naturally. I’m starting off on a good foot. I’ve been away getting a lot of work. I’m excited to just move forward.”
The good news is Brown should be ready for Oakland’s Week 1 match up with the Denver Broncos on Sep. 9. As disruptive as all this has seemed from the outside, head coach Jon Gruden made it clear all is right with the world as far as the Raiders are concerned.
Antonio Brown’s agent Drew Rosenhaus says there is no validity to the retirement rumors. In terms of how the injury to AB’s feet happened, Rosenhaus says he can’t comment now as it may be a legal issue involving the cryotherapy company. #Raiders @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/GZctV1UZEW
— MJ Acosta-Ruiz (@MJAcostaTV) August 13, 2019
“We’ll work him (Brown) back in,” Gruden said. “Obviously it’s great to have him back. We’ve had a pretty good understanding, in spite of what people think, of what’s going to happen. Now we’re ready to get rolling.”
Brown did get some especially good news himself Tuesday. While his favorite helmet was discontinued in 2009, the Schutt Air Advantage was apparently still manufactured until 2011 and Brown has located a 2010 model, meaning he can wear it this season. The NFL’s ban is only on helmets 10 years or older.
"I'm looking for a Schutt Air Advantage Adult Large Helmet that was manufactured in 2010 or after. In exchange I will trade a signed practice worn @Raiders helmet."
— AB (@AB84) August 13, 2019
Brown’s agent Drew Rosenhaus told reporters that he’d located “a few” of the 2010 helemets and they’ve been submitted for approval by the NOCSAE.
So all the drama is over for now. Hopefully.
