Weeks after workout with Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, Antonio Brown appears to retire
Russell Wilson’s summer workout partner—a former All-Pro who briefly had Seahawks fans buzzing about him possibly joining Wilson in Seattle this season—appears to be saying goodbye to football.
For now, anyway.
With Antonio Brown, no one ever really knows.
Three weeks after he posted video of him catching passes from Wilson in an offseason workout, the exiled, unsigned wide receiver discarded by two teams in September posted on his social-media account Monday he was leaving football.
“at this point the risk is greater than the reward thank you everyone who been part of this journey i sincerely thank you for everything! life goes on 84!” the 32-year-old Brown posted on Twitter.
Brown has been selected for seven Pro Bowls in his nine seasons. Eight were with Pittsburgh. Then came his lost, one-game season last year with Oakland then New England, before he acted himself out of the league in 2019. He has seven seasons with at least 1,100 yards receiving, six with at least 101 catches and four years with at least 10 touchdowns.
On July 1, Brown posted on Instagram a workout with Wilson on what appeared to be the offseason training field of Seattle’s franchise quarterback in California.
As sure as Pete Carroll chews gum, the Seahawks are going to keep tabs on Brown throughout this season. Carroll and general manager John Schneider almost brag that they stay involved in every possible deal, just in case.
Carroll said in early September his Seahawks inquired about possibly signing Brown upon the Raiders releasing him. The veteran is proud to say he doesn’t mind “getting close to the edge” in seeking players. Such is his supreme confidence in his leadership and his ability to fit anyone into his program, including Josh Gordon, Marshawn Lynch, Percy Harvin...
Or Antonio Brown.
“We are involved in everything. We’ve been telling you that for a long time,” Carroll said last September, two days after Brown acted his way out of Oakland.
“We seriously mean we are tying to know what’s going on with every opportunity out there. If we miss one of those, we mess up.”
Brown messed up with his Raiders last summer. He got frostbite on his feet for not wearing required protection while in a cryotherapy machine. He complained about the NFL not allowing him to wear the older, non-approved style of helmet he preferred. He got fines for missing practices, among other things.
The Raiders released him before he played a game for them.
Immediately after that, but before the Seahawks could get anywhere with Brown, the wide receiver agreed to sign a free-agent contract with the New England Patriots. It was reportedly worth up to $15 million in 2020 with a $9 million signing bonus.
Eleven days and one game after Brown signed with New England, the Patriots cut him. The move came as the NFL was investigating Brown for multiple accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior, including rape.
On Sept. 22, Brown posted on Twitter “won’t be playing in the @NFL anymore these owners can cancel deals do whatever they want at anytime...”
He hasn’t played since.
In late December he had a tryout with the New Orleans Saints that did not amount to anything. In January, Brown was arrested and charged with assaulting a delivery driver outside his home in Florida. He was briefly under house arrest. According to Broward County court records in Florida, the case ended with him getting two years probation until June 12, 2022. He was sentenced to a 13-week anger-management program, among other conditions.
The NFL is still investigating Brown for alleged sexual misconduct against two women. The league’s investigation found Brown sent threatening, aggressive text messages to one of the women.
Most around the league believe Brown would be put on the commissioner Roger Goodell’s exempt list and suspended for many games before he plays in his next one. If he plays in another one.
In late September, after the Raiders and Patriots had released him, the league issued a statement on Brown. It read, in part: “If he is signed by a club, such placement (on the commissioner’s exempt list) may become appropriate at any time depending on the status of the investigation. Upon conclusion of the investigation, he may be subject to discipline if the investigation finds that he has violated the law or league policies.”
So Brown was likely to be sidelined until late in the 2020 season. At the earliest.
Now, with training camps days from opening in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Brown has walked away again on his own accord.
For now.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 1:01 PM.
