One of the oddest nuggets to emanate from the bizarre Antonio Brown-Mike Mayock saga is a report about which teammate held the wide receiver back from going after the Oakland Raiders general manager.
Brown, who was acquired over the offseason in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers, publicly called out the Raiders on Instagram Wednesday for fining him. Brown then got into it with Mayock, the Raiders’ first-year GM, and had to be restrained, according to The Athletic’s Vic Tafur.
Antonio Brown was unhappy about being fined and had an exchange with #Raiders general manager Mike Mayock on Wednesday. He was held back by a couple of teammates, sources said, and is now facing a team suspension.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) September 5, 2019
Tafur says Brown’s longtime AFC North nemesis Vontaze Burfict was one of the players holding him back:
One of the players holding Antonio Brown back from the near-altercation with GM Mike Mayock was … Vontaze Burfict.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) September 5, 2019
NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport described the encounter.
More on #Raiders WR Antonio Brown and Mike Mayock yesterday: It did not get physical, sources say. But after a screaming match, Brown told Mayock that he would hit him in the face and then punted the ball… and said, Fine me for that.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 5, 2019
Brown and Burfict are both in their first seasons with the Raiders after spending their entire careers as rivals in the AFC North. Burfict nailed Brown with a big hit in 2015 that concussed the Steelers wide receiver. He delivered a controversial hit on Brown last season too. To think that they’re now on the same side and Burfict is working to help Brown is quite a twist.
The Raiders are said to be looking into suspending Brown, which could be a significant step towards voiding his contract. Brown is owed around $29 million guaranteed and has already been paid a $1 million signing bonus the team could go after.
