Raiders Partners With Xenith to Donate Helmets to Las Vegas Student-Athletes Day After Giving Antonio Brown Ultimatum to Join Team

The hottest topic in the NFL right now is Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown searching for a Schutt Air Advantage helmet that will be approved by the NFL. The helmet that he has worn throughout his entire career is no longer permitted by the league, and the replacement that he found was rejected during testing. This saga has kept Brown away from his new team during training camp, and he has been unable to participate during practices and preseason games.

Interestingly enough, the Raiders made news on Monday for a different story involving helmets. According to a press release, the Silver and Black recently partnered with Xenith to distribute helmets to Southern Nevada-area youth athletes who participated in the most recent Raiders Junior Training Camp. All of the athletes in attendance were gifted brand new Xenith X2E+ Youth helmets.

"It is an honor to partner with a legendary team like the Oakland Raiders to surprise this deserving group of student-athletes with upgraded helmets," Ryan Sullivan, Xenith CEO, said in the press release. "Xenith believes that everyone who wants to play football should have access to top-rated protection, so opportunities like this allow us to deliver on this mission in a really meaningful way."

This news comes at a very interesting time for both Brown and the Oakland Raiders. Sunday afternoon, general manager Mike Mayock gave an ultimatum to his wide receiver by way of a brief statement to reporters. As he said, "We have supported that [Brown's helmet pursuit], we appreciate that. But at this point, we've pretty much exhausted all avenues of relief. So, from our perspective, it's time for him to be all in, or all out, OK?"

Is the partnership another message to Brown that he needs to pick one of the approved helmets and move on toward the regular season? After all, Xenith is recognized as one of the industry leaders in helmet technology. All of the helmets that they make are Five-Star rated under the Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings System. Additionally, these helmets score in the Top-Performing Group of the NFL Helmet Laboratory Testing Performance Results. Brown's favored Schutt helmet can not boast the same.

Whether this is a pointed message to Brown or simply a coincidence, it's fascinating that the Raiders are choosing to partner with one of the league's top helmet manufacturers while their star receiver is dealing with a headgear issue of his own.