Antonio Brown Says He Feels Like 'a F—ing Enemy of the State'

Sunday afternoon, Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock set an ultimatum for wide receiver [...]

By John Newby

Sunday afternoon, Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock set an ultimatum for wide receiver Antonio Brown. With his helmet failing testing, the dynamic playmaker was seemingly left with no more options in his quest to get a Schutt Air Advantage approved for the 2019 season. In Mayock's opinion, this meant that it was time for Antonio Brown to either be "all in or all out." Basically, show up to work and honor the contract or retire from football altogether.

Well, as a new clip from HBO's Hard Knocks shows, Brown has not taken too kindly to all of the criticism that has been lobbed his way throughout this helmet saga. He has seen all of the messages made by media personalities, as well as those on social media platforms. In his mind, the common theme is that it's him against the world. For Brown, he feels like an enemy of the state.

"Too much noise right now," Brown said in a clip from Hard Knocks. "More work, less noise. I feel like I was enemy of the f—ing state! AB's actually a good player. A really good player. And he's a handsome looking player, by the way."

While Brown did say that he wants more work and less noise, that hasn't been the reality of the situation. This clip, which is from Tuesday's episode of Hard Knocks was released on social media while Brown was actually filing yet another grievance against the NFL in an effort to wear his preferred Schutt helmet for another season.

Adding another piece of intrigue to the story is Brown's Instagram account, which has been filled with more footage of him working out in the gym or at the track. During his time away from the Pittsburgh Steelers and in the days leading up to his eventual trade to Oakland, Brown followed the pattern of posting a ton of footage of his workouts. The point was that he was trying to get better every day despite the outside criticism.

Finally, Brown also posted a photo on Twitter that summed up this past month. The image was of a sunset over clouds in the sky, and there was the caption that read "When the world is against you, look at the sky. God is with you." This message fits with his previous statement of feeling like an enemy of the state. If Brown has proven anything, he is entering the season with the mindset of being against the world.

If Brown can find a suitable solution for the helmet issue, he will be an extremely motivated figure that will play a big role for the Oakland Raiders. Although he may want to reconsider the statement about more work and less noise. Filing grievances and avoiding practice sessions is what creates the most noise.

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