Antonio Brown has something to say to the public. OK, to be fair, let's just note that he has something MORE to say -- following a 24-hour maelstrom of news that began when the 31-year-old wide receiver purportedly got into a confrontation with Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock on Wednesday.
That argument reportedly included Brown threatening to hit Mayock "in the face", punting the football and saying "now fine me for that", and also allegedly using a racial slur against him. From there, the Raiders were expected to deactivate Brown for the regular season opener against the Denver Broncos as they mulled what to do next. One such option was to possibly suspend Brown and void nearly $30 million in guaranteed money, which would've likely been followed by an outright divorce. One day later, the All-Pro wideout apologized to everyone in a team meeting and head coach Jon Gruden then declared him available to play in Week 1.
Again, this all transpired in less than 24 hours (not counting Brown referring to the Raiders as "haters" on Sept. 4 for fining him $54,000 due to missed practices/walkthroughs) and in that timeframe; Brown also unfollowed the team and quarterback Derek Carr on social media -- for added emphasis of how he felt about the situation going into Friday morning. For his part and while addressing the public for the first time since the encounter on Wednesday, Brown denies using the slur and says he's ready to move past the incident, per Dianna Russini of ESPN.
And despite initial reports to the contrary, it seems the Raiders were never truly prepared to move forward without Brown.
Brown later took to the podium to seemingly quash the drama once and for all.
"I'm excited to be out here today," Brown said. "I apologized to my teammates and the organization, [but] enough talk, man. I'm excited to be out here with my teammates. I'm grateful for all the fans. I'm excited to be a part of the Raiders."
No one outside of the Raiders organization truly knows what occurred on the practice field this week, but both sides now agree that burying the supposed hatchet is the way to go. Unfortunately for Oakland, this latest round of controversy does nothing but fuel what many view as a growing rift between Brown and the front office. The All-Pro hasn't taken a single in-game football snap yet, but has already created whirlwind press with two separate helmet grievances -- along with attempts to sneak his old one onto the practice field -- and frostbitten feet that also helped him miss the large majority of training camp.
Where this roller coaster goes from here is anyone's guess, but the Raiders are now married to it with their latest decision; at least until/unless they need to revisit the union again in Week 2.
At this point, all things told, it's actually more of a week-to-week engagement.