Raiders’ star receiver Antonio Brown’s status for Monday’s home opening game against the Denver Broncos was quite tenuous the last fews days after he engaged in an altercation with Raiders’ General Manager Mike Mayock.
Tension between the two began earlier in the week when Brown posted a picture on Istagram of a letter that told him the organization would fine him $54 thousand dollars for missing a walkthrough. Unimpressed with the Brown’s post, GM Mayock rushed the field and started shouting at Antonio.
The altercation escalated rather quickly with reports of Brown threatening to hit Mayoc “in the face,” punting the football, taunting Mayoc to fine him for that action, and allegedly calling Mayoc a “cracker,” something Brown denies saying.
Brown faced deactivation (suspension) and the prospect of losing $30 million in guaranteed money.
Coach Jon Gruden appeared quite upset and emotional over the whole situation and told ESPN:
“Like I said, I’m not going to get into all of this,” Gruden said. “Obviously, [Brown] wasn’t here today, and when we have some information for you, we’ll give it to you. … I’ve been talking about the same guy every day.
“… I’m emotional about it, I hope you understand why. I think a lot of this guy. I think Antonio is a great receiver, and deep down I think he’s a really good guy. So, I’m frustrated, I’m not going to say anything more about it, hope it all works out. But I don’t have anything official to say about anything else until I get all the facts, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
On Friday, Brown apologized to his teammates and said he was excited to be a part of the organization. After issuing his apology, the league decided that Antonio will play in Monday night’s game.
