OAK planning to suspend AB (edit: apologized, playing)

[Reed83HOF]

3 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:

You gotta wonder whether Mayock mishandled this. You’re dealing with a real problem player and you finally got him back to a somewhat stable state to start the season. And now is the time you send him a letter with the chump change of fines? 

 

He had to have known this letter would possibly set off AB. Bad timing. 

Unless that was the intent...

[buffalo2218]

2 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:

You gotta wonder whether Mayock mishandled this. You’re dealing with a real problem player and you finally got him back to a somewhat stable state to start the season. And now is the time you send him a letter with the chump change of fines? 

 

He had to have known this letter would possibly set off AB. Bad timing. 

What kind of example would Mayock be setting if he just let it slide? Brown is more anti-team than anything. Last thing any team needs is an example like that set for everyone else

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

5 hours ago, Your Brown Eye said:

Can you dig up any with the guy from ‘Bar Rescue’?

[H2o]

1 hour ago, Reed83HOF said:

Who? How many marriages?

 

Conjecturing

 

LOL!!! I'm just talking in the context of how much of a big deal was made about it from the time the trade went down and then poof, it's over before you know it. 

[buffalo2218]

1 minute ago, Reed83HOF said:

Unless that was the intent...

That would be quite interesting for sure, perhaps the whole helmet deal got under Mayock's skin, the threat of violence may be the final nail in the coffin

[Putin]

1 hour ago, 1st&ten said:

Didn't  have time to read the whole thread so sorry if this is redundant----boo ho ho for the Raiders---too bad they signed this A-Hole---man did we dodge a bullet.

??

[vincec]

5 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

They don’t waive them if a guy just decides not to go to practice. He was in the hotel where they were practicing and just chose not to attend!  They waive fines if a guy is holding out and then signs, which is different. I mean how dare he be held accountable?

He needed some time to process. ?

[Saint Doug]

Just now, vincec said:

He needed some time to process. ?

You can’t mention AB in the same sentence as process. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

5 hours ago, njbuff said:

Brown is a nutcase, but Mayock shouldn't be GMing a little league football team.

Not to worry.  Scoutmasters Davis and Gruden will pile the kids into the minivan for a trip to Dairy Queen, to soothe ruffled feathers.  Free haircuts, too!

[teef]

2 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

Would you provide AB with discounted dental work after?

No

[vincec]

5 hours ago, dubs said:

But, according to Mike Schopp, all that matters is on field talent. 

 

?

. . . and lots of people on TBD too.

[C.Biscuit97]

47 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Now might be the time to trade them Zay.

Zay for Ab? ?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

43 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

 

 

 

 

Amy Trask has a point.  But I'm thinking AB is not ready to accept the "personal responsibility" for his actions that would be necessary to accept help.  I think he's living in the land of the "picked upon" victim.

[bills11]

The only issue I have with this situation is if the raiders try to trade or release the pats will be all over it they love taking players with formerly bad reputations who are elite 

[FLFan]

12 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Amy Trask has a point.  But I'm thinking AB is not ready to accept the "personal responsibility" for his actions that would be necessary to accept help.  I think he's living in the land of the "picked upon" victim.

There is absolutely no reason to feel sorry for Antonio Brown.  None.  He is not in need of counseling. He is in need of a functioning brain, which sadly, is not likely to happen.  This is all on him.  Spare me any excuses for his his behavior.  

[Putin]

9 minutes ago, bills11 said:

The only issue I have with this situation is if the raiders try to trade or release the pats will be all over it they love taking players with formerly bad reputations who are elite 

Or Maybe he can join his buddy in New Jersey 

[vanhalen26]

Bills did OK with T.O. but I think AB is a bigger head case.

[FLFan]

This is absolutely the least surprising development of the NFL season.  This was a virtual lock to happen.

[/dev/null]

so glad he didn't end up here

 

No doubt he's had a HoF worthy career but his melodrama may cost him a first or second ballot like it did TO

 

Everybody thought the Steelers got robbed in that trade, but in hindsight that trade may have been the smart move

[C.Biscuit97]

1 minute ago, vanhalen26 said:

Bills did OK with T.O. but I think AB is a bigger head case.

Don’t undersell how big is an idiot TO was.  But he did bite his tongue for a year here. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

27 minutes ago, buffalo2218 said:

What kind of example would Mayock be setting if he just let it slide? Brown is more anti-team than anything. Last thing any team needs is an example like that set for everyone else

 

A bad one. I was firmly on Mayock’s side initially. But he traded for a known problem guy. He has to manage the situation he got himself into. Or else don’t trade for him. 

[H2o]

1 minute ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:

 

A bad one. I was firmly on Mayock’s side initially. But he traded for a known problem guy. He has to manage the situation he got himself into. Or else don’t trade for him. 

The trade is on Gruden. It's who he wanted, what he got, and the circus has ensued. 

[Rock-A-Bye Beasley]

Brown is better at his job than anyone in that building. He’s a head case. Gruden/Mayock’s job is to get him on the field knowing that fact. They knew he would take this small fine personally. Has Mayock ever been a GM before? The Raider’s look really bad here. As does Brown. 

[Chicharito]

I think AB realized he actually wanted to be in Buffalo and he’s pulling the crazy act to get here?

[GG]

I'll laugh when Tre posts a comment on Instagram

[Alphadawg7]

3 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I understand your point to a degree.  At the bottom line, though, it's a business, and in a business at the end if it's not in writing, it didn't happen.  So even if Mayock and AB did sit down and discuss face to face, Mayock did (IMO, from a business/legal POV) put the fines in writing. 

 

Did he have to make the public call-out over the helmet?  Yes and no...it's part of the GM's job to represent the team to the public, and the public most definitely wanted to know what the team's stance was and what the team was doing over the helmet.  He could have worded it differently, I think.

 

My personal viewpoint is that I think AB has become someone with whom one does not have discussions...I think he was accustomed to screaming at Steelers coaches and players and having it pass unremarked, and possibly to other "special" treatment such as being forgiven fines for missing this and that.  I think it's a fairly good bet that if Mayock did try to sit down and discuss 1:1 with AB, either Brown blew him off and wouldn't do it, or the discussion consisted of Brown screaming at Mayock.  But that's just my personal viewpoint and the only evidence I have for it is other flaky Brown behavior and the episodes described by a former Steelers player (linked above).

 

 

 

Its all good, I don't honestly care about AB since he is not on my fantasy team lol.  Although I have really enjoyed watching hard knocks, Gruden is hilarious.  

 

In the end, I just think Mayock should have taken a more personable approach with his relationship with AB like Gruden did from the get go.  Had he done that and demonstrated he had AB's back during the helmet thing instead of expressing frustration and a back handed ultimatum in the media, then I think their relationship wouldn't have been as volatile where something like this blows up this big.  

 

Again, in no way am I excusing AB's crazy behavior, just saying when you trade valuable assets and invest big money into a personality like AB, then you better understand how to best manage it and work with him to minimize these types of incidents.  Mayock I think took a risky approach and its not working out.  

[NoSaint]

51 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

That would be true if AB was 10 times the receiver than the next best on the team.

Except AB stats are not even twice of Tyrell Williams in the past 3 years.

That's were the decision has to be made.

 

It’s quite the argument you make. Quite the argument. 

 

That if cherry picking a timeline that includes tyrells best season that occurred 3 years ago his stats are more than half what brown produced is not particularly compelling to dissuading me from my overall point 

 

But for entertainments sake, if writing off my totally arbitrary 10x statement that was meant to indicate simply that he was substantially better, what multiple would you assign to browns ability comparatively?!? Is he more like 1.7x the player? 2.4x?!? ?

 

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by NoSaint

[The Wiz]

17 minutes ago, FLFan said:

There is absolutely no reason to feel sorry for Antonio Brown.  None.  He is not in need of counseling. He is in need of a functioning brain, which sadly, is not likely to happen.  This is all on him.  Spare me any excuses for his his behavior.  

Feel sorry, no. But this guy is a couple sandwiches short of a picnic if you ask me. 

 

He'll never go to counseling unless he is forced while in a mental institute. 

 

 

[YoloinOhio]

 

 

[The Wiz]

Just now, YoloinOhio said:

 

Translation: I need to make sure I get my 10% of that deal. 

[C.Biscuit97]

1 minute ago, The Wiz said:

Feel sorry, no. But this guy is a couple sandwiches short of a picnic if you ask me. 

 

He'll never go to counseling unless he is forced while in a mental institute. 

 

 

When you’ve been enabled all your life, it is extremely hard to ever admit you’re wrong.  Ryan Clark was so right about AB.

[whatdrought]

1 minute ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

 

If they don't suspend him by game day, do they owe him the guarantees? 

[C.Biscuit97]

Just now, The Wiz said:

Translation: I need to make sure I get my 10% of that deal. 

Dude is really good at what he does.  Agents are snakes but they earn their money. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, NoSaint said:

They already decided to employ him and commit heavily to two seasons with him. 

 

Once youve made that decision you have to figure out how to maximize. I’m sorry but few of our day to day jobs come with an office that shares a guy getting $30m guaranteed so I don’t think standard issue HR stuff translates apples to apples. 

 

But if your top sales person brought in ten times the second best and the majority of your revenue he probably gets to make his own hours. Especially if you hired him from the competition for a huge contract knowing he came in late and liked to golf on Friday afternoon. If you want to write him up for that and withhold commissions you probably shouldn’t have brought him on in the first place 

 

Standard HR stuff may not translate, but you need to be consistent with the locker room.

 

I don't think the "top sales person brought in 10x the 2nd best" is an apt analogy.  Juju Smith-Schuster gained more yards than AB last year on a similar number of targets.  James Conner gained more yards rushing + receiving.  Jordy Nelson's best years are behind him, but he gained 739 yds on 88 targets last year, more than half of what AB got.  AB is good but he's not 10x good.  He's a top WR in the league, but he was #11 in yards last year, not 11x everyone else.

 

I could deconstruct further but why.  At this point between the frostbitten feet, the big helmet kerfluffle, and now this it's a bit beyond golfing on Friday.

[C.Biscuit97]

Just now, whatdrought said:

 

If they don't suspend him by game day, do they owe him the guarantees? 

Not a contract expert but I think it would be really hard to get that guaranteed money back.  But he will lose his game check. 

[whatdrought]

Just now, C.Biscuit97 said:

Not a contract expert but I think it would be really hard to get that guaranteed money back.  But he will lose his game check. 

 

There was some talk up thread about how if they suspended him before the first game, there's a chance they can get the $$ back... Not sure at all what the details were... It's very Gruden of them to try and make it work and just push the problem down the road, instead of getting out with the $ if possible. 

[vincec]

5 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

Phil Jackson had teams that would have won championships with Vince Young as head coach.

Not true. Doug Collins had Jordan and Pippen and didn't win. Del Harris had Kobe and Shaq and didn't win.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

 

If they don't suspend him by game day, do they owe him the guarantees? 

 

According to PFT, in the contract language he signed, he's already forfeited his guarantees.

 

[Rc2catch]

This guy is just a mess. He should probably retire. He needs time away from the cameras and twitters of the world. He’s destroying everything he worked so hard to build about his name and game. Another hard working lower round drafted receiver on his way to the hall of fame, what a great success story, and then it all derailed because his head got so big he thought he was bigger than the game

[Hapless Bills Fan]

13 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Its all good, I don't honestly care about AB since he is not on my fantasy team lol.  Although I have really enjoyed watching hard knocks, Gruden is hilarious.  

 

In the end, I just think Mayock should have taken a more personable approach with his relationship with AB like Gruden did from the get go.  Had he done that and demonstrated he had AB's back during the helmet thing instead of expressing frustration and a back handed ultimatum in the media, then I think their relationship wouldn't have been as volatile where something like this blows up this big.  

 

Again, in no way am I excusing AB's crazy behavior, just saying when you trade valuable assets and invest big money into a personality like AB, then you better understand how to best manage it and work with him to minimize these types of incidents.  Mayock I think took a risky approach and its not working out.  

 

I hear you, my point is for all we know, maybe Mayock did try.   He said in the helmet ultimatum that they supported Brown's appeal to the league.  Maybe he tried to have AB's back and tried to be personable all spring, and that public ultimatum was the expression of 'we had your back, we supported you through your league appeals, now they're over and you're still not here' frustration.

Or maybe not.  It's just we saw the tip of the iceburg in the press conference and the letter, but how big the attempts to work with AB below the surface were, only Oak insiders know.