Antonio Brown Quits NFL, Surprising Countless Fans and Analysts

Sunday morning, 28 NFL teams were locked in and preparing for the upcoming slate of football games. The Minnesota Vikings were set to host the Oakland Raiders, the Baltimore Ravens were visiting the Kansas City Chiefs. The list goes on and on. However, the dominating storyline was not the wildly impressive play of Lamar Jackson or the first career start of Daniel Jones in New York. Instead, the primary topic was Antonio Brown, who no longer had a job after being released by the New England Patriots.

Why Brown was creating waves was simply that he had declared that he was done with the NFL. The former Patriots receiver was frustrated with the owners being able to “void guarantees anytime” they want. Based on this fact, Brown was simply going to avoid playing football anymore despite potentially having suitors.

As expected, this news on Sunday morning certainly caught many off guard. The belief after his release was that Brown would return to Miami until his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, found him a new home. With countless injuries around the league, there would be no shortage of options. Brown’s decision certainly altered this belief.

Following him “calling it quits,” Twitter was full of fans and analysts alike responding to the news. Some simply laughed at the fact that Brown is walking away after getting released while others wondered about his mental state. Finally, there was a third portion that just wanted Brown to stop tweeting.

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Everything lives forever on the internet, and NFL reporters want to remind Antonio Brown of this fact. When he declared that he was done with the NFL, the former Patriots receiver talked about losing $40 million in guarantees because owners can do what they want. Well, Steve Wyche remembers these situations playing out very differently. 

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter is a man that has been kept extremely busy by the Antonio Brown saga. Whether he was breaking news back in the 2018 NFL season that the Pittsburgh Steelers would be benching Brown or revealing that a trade with the Oakland Raiders would be going down, Schefter has been a man without sleep. 

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While there are many that don’t agree with Brown’s viewpoint, there are others that actually understand his declaration. Having teams that can cut players without financial penalty is frustrating for those that don pads each week. That being said, Brown may not be the best case study.

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Brown may be frustrated with the way that he was released by two separate teams, but he is an employee and must follow rules. As Scott Winter explained on Twitter, there are rules that must be followed to maintain your employment status. Brown didn’t follow the rules. 

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Brown may say that he’s walking away from the NFL, but it may not be a simple matter. As of right now, he doesn’t actually have a job. The Patriots released Brown and made him a free agent once again, so can he technically quit? 

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Brown may be dominating storylines on Sunday morning, but there are many that simply are over the entire discussion. He’s not active or on any of the 32 NFL teams, so it’s time to focus on something else. Chase Ingraham, owner of Crossfit Big D in Texas, doesn’t really care that Brown is calling it quits. 

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Brown has been spending his Sunday morning firing off Tweets about Robert Kraft, Ben Roethlisberger, Shannon Sharpe, and all of the NFL owners. It’s been a wild start to the day that was headlined by him saying that he is done with football. How do those around Brown feel about his morning?  

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The NFL fans are simply over the drama surrounding Brown. Yes, they understand that he is upset about losing all of the guaranteed money, but they are in shock that the former Patriots receiver feels that he is blameless in the entire discussion. 

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Brown may be very frustrated that he missed out on tons of guaranteed cash, but the NFL fans don’t feel his pain. As many pointed out on Twitter, getting paid is a very simple process. As an employee of the Patriots or Raiders, there was a very clear set of expectations, and Brown just needed to meet those. 

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Brown has declared that he is done with the NFL. He is walking away from football because he is frustrated with the team owners and their ability to take away his guaranteed money. He doesn’t technically have a job at this moment after being released by the Patriots, but Brown is not letting those details get in the way. Of course, football fans are less concerned about why Brown is calling it quits than they are about how he reacted after making this decision. Did he run around his yard flapping his wings like he did when the Raiders cut him?