Antonio Brown’s offseason has been one of the wildest in recent NFL history, but he seems extremely happy about what went down on Saturday. Brown was released by the Raiders after a tumultuous week where he had a verbal confrontation with the team’s general manager and publicly vented about the fines the team levied against him.
It was the latest in a wild offseason that’s featured Brown in a number of very public disputes. First, he demanded a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers shortly after a season in which he sat out a must-win regular season finale. Brown was then reportedly traded to the Buffalo Bills, only to basically veto that move in the public eye once the move was leaked by reporters.
Brown then was finally traded to the Oakland Raiders, where he was initially happy but later had issues with the NFL and the Raiders regarding his helmet. There was also a bizarre botched cryotherapy session that injured his foot and fines for missing various practices in Oakland. All of that came to an end on Saturday afternoon when the Raiders cut ties with Brown, making him a free agent.
And now we know exactly how he reacted to the news. On Saturday, hours after the Raiders released the wideout and minutes after reports broke that the New England Patriots would sign the free agent, Brown posted a video of his reaction to the news of his release on YouTube.
“Look at Adam Schefter,” a voice says, as Brown checks his phone and suddenly sprints out of his chair shouting “free!”
Brown runs around the backyard, shirtless, past a jugs machine and a swimming pool. Brown then runs back toward the camera, waving his arms like a bird and shouting more about flying and freedom.
“Let’s go,” Brown says, clapping his hands. The video then cuts to Brown calling his grandmother.
“Grandma they freeing me,” Brown shouts into the speakerphone. “God is the greatest.”
It’s no surprise that Brown is happy to be done with the Raiders after the various issues he’s had with management there, but seeing a video of his initial reaction is pretty wild. Brown is now headed to New England — because of course — where he could find more problems. But before that happened, he took a few seconds to celebrate the last chapter of his playing career coming to an abrupt end.
