The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread V3

Oat23

munstermagic11 wrote: »

He also represents Gronk.

Doesn't sound dodgy at all. Gronk retires a few weeks after he signs in Oakland (after the Steelers reportedly refused to deal him to the Pats) and he starts acting like a headcase, basically begging to be cut. Then he signs with the Pats a few hours after leaving the Raiders with no choice but to cut him due to his absurd behaviour.

Would you start acting like a lunatic to go from a 4-12 team to a superbowl contender? From Derek Carr to one of the greatest QBs ever? Plenty would I'm sure.

j8wk2feszrnpao

Oat23 wrote: »

Would you start acting like a lunatic to go from a 4-12 team to a superbowl contender?

His lunacy act may not be over yet. Let’s see how it plays out if true.

Oat23

munstermagic11 wrote: »

His lunacy act may not be over yet. Let’s see how it plays out if true.

If he does and they end up having to suspend/cut him I'll be fully convinced the man really has brain damage.


I suspect he won't cause a single problem though. He has a chance to win a ring.

KaiserGunner

https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/1170443131021606912?s=21

You could say the perfect scenario for a big man child like Antonio Brown. His behaviour over the summer was an embarrassment, yet it paid off. Nothing dodgy going on here at all. :rolleyes:

The_Honeybadger

KaiserGunner wrote: »

https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/1170443131021606912?s=21

You could say the perfect scenario for a big man child like Antonio Brown. His behaviour over the summer was an embarrassment, yet it paid off. Nothing dodgy going on here at all. :rolleyes:

He will be a model professional now, wait and see.

You have to hand it to the Pats. That’s some receiver corp and backfield they have there and the defence is top 5. If Brady stays healthy it’s theirs to lose. Once Gronk returns in November they’ll be unstoppable

Realt Dearg Sec

This stinks to high f**king heaven.

Hococop

Everything about this seems so dodgy but can a case be made?

Oat23

Hococop wrote: »

Everything about this seems so dodgy but can a case be made?

Rosenhaus, Belichick and everyone else involved have been in the game far too long to do something silly like leave any evidence of tampering. This isn't their first rodeo.

In a decade we'll probably hear it from AB himself because he won't be able to keep his mouth shut.

btw: The Athletic's writer covering the Pats posted an article there saying his colleagues have been hearing from teams around the league for a while that they believe it was ABs plan all along. He never wanted to play in Oakland and forced his way out on purpose.

The_Honeybadger

Oat23 wrote: »

Rosenhaus, Belichick and everyone else involved have been in the game far too long to do something silly like leave any evidence of tampering. This isn't their first rodeo.

In a decade we'll probably hear it from AB himself because he won't be able to keep his mouth shut.

btw: The Athletic's writer covering the Pats posted an article there saying his colleagues have been hearing from teams around the league for a while that they believe it was ABs plan all along. He never wanted to play in Oakland and forced his way out on purpose.

Unless they are completely stupid there will be no trail. The biggest problem with his helmet after all was the badge on the side of it.

Has anybody seen the video of his reaction when he heard the news that he was being released? It wasn’t a man worried about his place in the league. Deal was done well before that imo. I commend him on the execution if it was his grand plan.

mikemac2

Oat23 wrote: »

The only people I feel bad for in this are the fans who spent $250 on an AB jersey.

When Ray Rice was cut (different situation I know, I know) the Ravens gave a free exchange for any other jersey of your choice.

Got some PR anyway, maybe the Raiders will do the same

el Fenomeno

I love how, just because he's signed for the Patriots, people have gone from accusing AB of being a CTE-riddled, egotistical lunatic ruined by money to a cunning, well-rehearsed actor in Belichick's scripted and devious ploy.

Any other team and there would be no such accusations.

Tristram

Jesus, tinfoil hat time in this thread

dfx-

eagle eye wrote: »

You are starting to take this too seriously. It was only a joke.

It would be naive to have not taken it seriously

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

el Fenomeno wrote: »

I love how, just because he's signed for the Patriots, people have gone from accusing AB of being a CTE-riddled, egotistical lunatic ruined by money to a cunning, well-rehearsed actor in Belichick's scripted and devious ploy.

Any other team and there would be no such accusations.

Mind-numbingly stupid to be perfectly honest. AB gets traded. He then signs a contract extension. He reports to training camp and there's no indication he's unhappy with the situation until the farce over the helmets. He eventually gets cut after one of the most ridiculous sagas I've ever seen, only after Mayock takes away his guaranteed money. This is done by a player who by all accounts seems as thick as a wooden door and who has posted phone recordings of him and his coach on social media whilst being in a 2 party consent state.
If you think the Patriots had anything to do with any of that it's clear you have an issue with the Patriots.

Itssoeasy

If the New England patriots can get through this season without any/relatively little ****ehawkery then an already legendary franchise will be miracle workers. Unfortunately, I don't think it will happen with all the best will in the world. AB has revealed who he is.

Oat23

el Fenomeno wrote: »

I love how, just because he's signed for the Patriots, people have gone from accusing AB of being a CTE-riddled, egotistical lunatic ruined by money to a cunning, well-rehearsed actor in Belichick's scripted and devious ploy.

Any other team and there would be no such accusations.

For me it's the only reasonable explanation apart from him really being messed up mentally from all the hits to the head. It stinks something fierce with it being the Pats, Drew Rosenhaus and the Pats having just lost a huge player who also happens to be a Rosenhaus client.


He's either insane or the whole thing was an act to get out of Oakland and onto a superbowl contender on the advice of his agent. Officials from teams around the league also saying the same thing before it even happened adds a little credit to the suspicion.

Pat McAfee also called it perfectly on a podcast back on Thursday.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Oat23 wrote: »

For me it's the only reasonable explanation apart from him really being messed up mentally from all the hits to the head. It stinks something fierce with it being the Pats, Drew Rosenhaus and the Pats having just lost a huge player who also happens to be a Rosenhaus client.


He's either insane or the whole thing was an act to get out of Oakland and onto a superbowl contender on the advice of his agent. Officials from teams around the league also saying the same thing before it even happened adds a little credit to the suspicion.

Pat McAfee also called it perfectly on a podcast back on Thursday.

Your grasping at straws here. You're issue is clearly with the Patriots landing him.

If Brown was this mastermind you're now portraying him to be then he could have gotten himself released in a far more dignified way.

The Rosenhaus link is utter rubbish too. A quick look at his wikipedia states that he currently represents over 170 players. Sure no matter which team Brown went to you could make that link.

And using Pat McAfee's prediction is again rubbish. He picked the Patriots because they have a recent history of taking on troubled players for a year or 2 (the 2 Bennetts, Ocho, Moss, etc).

I don't doubt that at some point along Brown's saga he started gunning for a release, but I don't believe it was his intention all along. To suggest that the Pats had any part to play in it is ridiculous in the extreme. Had the Chiefs, Eagles or any other organisation signed him would anyone be spouting that sh1t? Absolutely not, people are just looking for a reason to have a go at the Patriots.

The most likely reason for what happened all summer is the most obvious one. Antonio Brown really is as thick and petulant as he's made himself out to be over the past number of years.
He did go to the Raiders with the intention of playing with them. He signed a contract extension to this effect.
At some point during the whole helmet debacle he got it into his head that he and the Raiders weren't going to work out. The management of the team and organisation by Gruden and Mayock was probably a factor too. He might have felt the Raiders didn't back him up sufficiently, and this was after the embarrassment of the cryotherapy incident which only added to his woes.
He could have come to the conclusion that the only way to silence all the doubters was to go out and have an all-time season, something which was unlikely to happen in Oakland, so then he forced their hand.
After threatening Mayock and his guarantees getting voided a whole host of teams got on to either him or his agent and he chose the Patriots. Gets cut later that day and immediately signs with them. Ideal situation for Brown as they're an excellently run team with Superbowl aspirations. Not to mention they're the Steelers biggest rivals which only sweetens the deal for him.

Saying the Patriots had a hand in any of his lunacy is quite frankly horsesh1t. Was there negotiations happening before he got released? Probably, from the Pats and multiple other teams most likely. However to say the Patriots had any hand in what happened before yesterday is absolute begrudgery.

People are justifiably annoyed that 2 things happened:
1. The most successful team/dynasty has added one of the best players in the league on to an already strong roster and has thus become favourites to go to a 4th straight Superbowl.
2. Antonio Brown has somehow won in this whole situation. He only loses out on 600k, but he gets out of the sh1tshow that is Oakland and ends up at an organisation with Superbowl aspirations while giving a huge fcuk you to the Steelers.

Shedite27

Itssoeasy wrote: »

If the New England patriots can get through this season without any/relatively little ****ehawkery then an already legendary franchise will be miracle workers. Unfortunately, I don't think it will happen with all the best will in the world. AB has revealed who he is.

Comes down to management styles for me.

AB has shown he's the sort of person that needs to be very managed, and thrives when you have someone who can manage the outside interferences. Tomlin clearly is that type of manager (Belichek too).

From what I've seen of Gruden/Mayock, they seems to be the sort of managers who wants to empower players, ask them to take responsibliity and make their own decisions. That's not gonna always gonna work with someone who is used to a Tomlin making every decision for them.

Both manamement styles are very different, managers need to adapt to their staff/players if they're going to have both type of players on their roster.

Foxtrol

For Pats fans moving into their standard circle the wagon mode, there were the same sort of conspiracy theories being made about AB and the Raiders having an under the table deal when he was traded, so they'd get him for cheap and he'd get a new contract. This 'they hate us because they ain't us' act about everything never gets old. Patriots were also quick to cry tampering this offseason but no one else is apparently allowed.

If AB is some evil genius, as some seem to believe, how he has acted since being released doesn't point to it. Releasing a video of you celebrating being released from a team and then liking a post on twitter calling for your former GM to be raped does not seem to me to be a guy who was just acting his craziness before, unless he's stuck in character.

Also, I was wrong about the Patriots using this to get a 3rd round comp pick from AB next year if he moves on. Apparently the highest they can get no matter how big a deal AB gets next is a 5th round comp.

Oat23

As long as he didn't end up on the Bears or Packers I didn't care where he went. It's just a theory and it wouldn't be the first time an accusation of tampering was thrown the way of New England.

I don't see how this could have happened over the course of 12 hours. It's highly unlikely he signed a standard contract with them given his history. The Pats would have wanted to include a load of outs which takes time to go through and negotiate. The wheels have been in motion on this deal for a while. Way before Brown posted "release me" on Instagram which was only 23 hours ago.

PS: I never called Brown a mastermind. He's clearly a moron who doesn't have the discipline to pull something like this off. It was his agent's doing.

Foxtrol wrote: »

This 'they hate us because they ain't us' act about everything never gets old. Patriots were also quick to cry tampering this offseason but no one else is apparently allowed.

This exactly. Table a theory that makes the Patriot organisation look even a little bad and you get the "ya'll just haters" attitude. Even though that theory is also being mentioned to reporters by officials from teams in the league. :rolleyes:

We're all just haters. The Patriots fans aren't homers unable to see that their team may do something shady to land an elite player. Nope. Never.

Foxtrol

Shedite27 wrote: »

Comes down to management styles for me.

AB has shown he's the sort of person that needs to be very managed, and thrives when you have someone who can manage the outside interferences. Tomlin clearly is that type of manager (Belichek too).

From what I've seen of Gruden/Mayock, they seems to be the sort of managers who wants to empower players, ask them to take responsibliity and make their own decisions. That's not gonna always gonna work with someone who is used to a Tomlin making every decision for them.

Both manamement styles are very different, managers need to adapt to their staff/players if they're going to have both type of players on their roster.

Gruden historically let his stars away with a load of stuff, I'd say that Mayock had to opposite mindset, players being held accountable. Giving out fines for missing camp seemed to be the match that blew up AB's relationship with the Raiders.

I'm sure there are elements of Tomlin and Bill as coaches are similar but I wouldn't class them as the same style of disciplinarian or that they have the same sort of expectations for players. Both seem to good man managers in their own way but the whole AB in New England story-line will be interesting, even just to watch grumpy Bill acting angrily that journalists dare to ask a question about him.

The_Honeybadger

Big Pussy Bonpensiero wrote: »

Your grasping at straws here. You're issue is clearly with the Patriots landing him.

If Brown was this mastermind you're now portraying him to be then he could have gotten himself released in a far more dignified way.

The Rosenhaus link is utter rubbish too. A quick look at his wikipedia states that he currently represents over 170 players. Sure no matter which team Brown went to you could make that link.

And using Pat McAfee's prediction is again rubbish. He picked the Patriots because they have a recent history of taking on troubled players for a year or 2 (the 2 Bennetts, Ocho, Moss, etc).

I don't doubt that at some point along Brown's saga he started gunning for a release, but I don't believe it was his intention all along. To suggest that the Pats had any part to play in it is ridiculous in the extreme. Had the Chiefs, Eagles or any other organisation signed him would anyone be spouting that sh1t? Absolutely not, people are just looking for a reason to have a go at the Patriots.

The most likely reason for what happened all summer is the most obvious one. Antonio Brown really is as thick and petulant as he's made himself out to be over the past number of years.
He did go to the Raiders with the intention of playing with them. He signed a contract extension to this effect.
At some point during the whole helmet debacle he got it into his head that he and the Raiders weren't going to work out. The management of the team and organisation by Gruden and Mayock was probably a factor too. He might have felt the Raiders didn't back him up sufficiently, and this was after the embarrassment of the cryotherapy incident which only added to his woes.
He could have come to the conclusion that the only way to silence all the doubters was to go out and have an all-time season, something which was unlikely to happen in Oakland, so then he forced their hand.
After threatening Mayock and his guarantees getting voided a whole host of teams got on to either him or his agent and he chose the Patriots. Gets cut later that day and immediately signs with them. Ideal situation for Brown as they're an excellently run team with Superbowl aspirations. Not to mention they're the Steelers biggest rivals which only sweetens the deal for him.

Saying the Patriots had a hand in any of his lunacy is quite frankly horsesh1t. Was there negotiations happening before he got released? Probably, from the Pats and multiple other teams most likely. However to say the Patriots had any hand in what happened before yesterday is absolute begrudgery.

People are justifiably annoyed that 2 things happened:
1. The most successful team/dynasty has added one of the best players in the league on to an already strong roster and has thus become favourites to go to a 4th straight Superbowl.
2. Antonio Brown has somehow won in this whole situation. He only loses out on 600k, but he gets out of the sh1tshow that is Oakland and ends up at an organisation with Superbowl aspirations while giving a huge fcuk you to the Steelers.

That’s all fair enough. I do wonder at what point Rosenhaus started shopping him around but we’ll never know.

I’d also like to know what the other owners make of it. AB has shown every player in the league how to get out of your contract no matter how long you have left.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

I'll say it for the 3rd time. The Patriots, along with more than likely a few (probably many) other teams, possibly did tamper with Brown. To what extent is debatable, but to suggest it was something they were doing for the past month plus is ridiculous. If they did tamper with Brown at all, and it is still an if, then it was likely when Mayock took away his guarantees and a release looked inevitable. But there is absolutely no proof in any of that but of course when it comes to the Patriots people will immediately look to undermine their success rather than wait for facts to come out about it.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

That’s all fair enough. I do wonder at what point Rosenhaus started shopping him around but we’ll never know.

I’d also like to know what the other owners make of it. AB has shown every player in the league how to get out of your contract no matter how long you have left.

At the expense of their dignity, something with which only the very best players would get away with, and something that only headcases like AB would be happy with.
Even if a player like an Amari Cooper or a Josh Norman tried that there would probably be a very different outcome.

Oat23

Big Pussy Bonpensiero wrote: »

I'll say it for the 3rd time. The Patriots, along with more than likely a few (probably many) other teams, possibly did tamper with Brown. To what extent is debatable, but to suggest it was something they were doing for the past month plus is ridiculous. If they did tamper with Brown at all, and it is still an if, then it was likely when Mayock took away his guarantees and a release looked inevitable. But there is absolutely no proof in any of that but of course when it comes to the Patriots people will immediately look to undermine their success rather than wait for facts to come out about it.

"My team probably did something a little shady but I guarantee they didn't do something very shady. Neverrr."

eagle eye

If AB went to the Browns, Cardinals, Bucs, Dolphins or well basically 24 other teams there wouldn't be any conspiracy theories.
If he goes to the Patriots, Seahawks, Cowboys and maybe the Saints there has to be something sinister about it.
Patriots have him on a one year rental. After all that went on this off-season it's a good deal for them and a prove it deal for Brown.
The Patriots are always in the mix at the end of the season. There are lots of reasons for that but the biggest one is being the most professional franchise in the league.
You can rag on with your conspiracy theories all you want but the simple fact is that the Patriots were ready to move before anyone else like they always are. If you don't accept that then you are lying to yourself.
I'm not saying that they are totally innocent but before you go there you have to accept that they are always ahead of the rest.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Oat23 wrote: »

"My team probably did something a little shady but I guarantee they didn't do something very shady. Neverrr."

That probably sounded a lot funnier in your head, but good lad, resort to the childish comments instead of trying backing up the tinfoil hat argument you were making earlier on.
You thinking the Patriots had something to do AB's behaviour over the past month says enough. Only thing you backed it up with then was AB's agent who represented Gronk and who also represents over 100 other players.
I honestly can't argue with that logic so I won't even try. Enjoy your Sunday.

Oat23

Big Pussy Bonpensiero wrote: »

That probably sounded a lot funnier in your head, but good lad, resort to the childish comments instead of trying backing up the tinfoil hat argument you were making earlier on.
You thinking the Patriots had something to do AB's behaviour over the past month says enough. Only thing you backed it up with then was AB's agent who represented Gronk and who also represents over 100 other players.
I honestly can't argue with that logic so I won't even try. Enjoy your Sunday.

It's not an argument. It's a theory put forward by quite a few people. You're the one getting defensive and acting like anyone who suggests the Patriots did something wrong is a hater.


The only thing we disagree on is when the Patriots may have started tampering. In my theory it started sooner than you think. Get over it.

adrian522

I have to say the whole thing is incredibly suspicious. I don't know to what level he planned it but it seems obvious that AB was doing his best to force his way out of Oakland and onto a contender (who the Steelers would never trade him to).

It's obviously not a new thing we see it in other sports all the time but it doesn't look great from where I'm standing.

So out of all this the Steelers have $20m in cap hit, the raiders lost a 3rd and a 5th round pick, the patriots get AB and (probably) a 3rd round pick at the end of the season and Brown gets what, $15m and a shot at a superbowl.

Foxtrol

eagle eye wrote: »

If AB went to the Browns, Cardinals, Bucs, Dolphins or well basically 24 other teams there wouldn't be any conspiracy theories.
If he goes to the Patriots, Seahawks, Cowboys and maybe the Saints there has to be something sinister about it.
Patriots have him on a one year rental. After all that went on this off-season it's a good deal for them and a prove it deal for Brown.
The Patriots are always in the mix at the end of the season. There are lots of reasons for that but the biggest one is being the most professional franchise in the league.
You can rag on with your conspiracy theories all you want but the simple fact is that the Patriots were ready to move before anyone else like they always are. If you don't accept that then you are lying to yourself.
I'm not saying that they are totally innocent but before you go there you have to accept that they are always ahead of the rest.

The fact that there were plenty of conspiracy theories when AB forced the trade to the Raiders proves that argument is complete waffle.