Antonio Brown reportedly facing suspension from Raiders over incident with GM
Wide receiver Antonio Brown faces further prospective discipline by the Oakland Raiders after an incident this week between him and Mike Mayock, the team's general manager.
Brown and Mayock had a heated confrontation Wednesday after Brown posted on social media a photo of a fine letter from the team, according to a person familiar with the situation. That potentially could lead to further disciplinary action by the Raiders against Brown, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the team had made no official announcement.
According to a report by ESPN, the team plans to suspend Brown. The league-owned NFL Network reported that Brown threatened to punch Mayock in the face during the confrontation, which did not actually become physical, and then punted a football and told Mayock to fine him for that. The Athletic reported that teammates had to restrain Brown.
Brown did not participate in the Raiders' practice Thursday. Mayock, the former draft analyst for the NFL Network who's in his first year as GM, spoke to reporters briefly at the Raiders' facility but did not address specifics or take questions from the media.
"Antonio Brown is not in the building today," Mayock said. "He won't be practicing. I don't have any more information for you right now. And when I have some and it becomes appropriate, you guys will all get it. I promise you. But that's it for today."
Coach Jon Gruden was scheduled to speak to reporters following the practice.
Under the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association, a club can suspend a player for as many as four games without pay for conduct detrimental to the team. The player, through the NFLPA, could appeal any disciplinary action.
The NFLPA had "not yet" been informed as of early Thursday afternoon that the Raiders intend to suspend Brown, a person close to the situation said. Brown's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Wednesday, Brown posted the photo of a letter he had received from Mayock informing him that he had been fined $13,950 for missing a walk-through on Aug. 22 before the Raiders' third exhibition game against the Green Bay Packers. That sanction was added to the $40,000 he was fined for missing the final practice of training camp on Aug. 18. That day, Mayock told reporters that "from our perspective, it's time for him to be all in, or all out."
In the social media post, Brown annotated the photo with a caption that seemed to express his displeasure with the news.
"When your own team want to hate but there's no stopping me now devil is a lie," he wrote. "Everyone got to pay this year so we clear."
It's unclear how long the Raiders plan to suspend Brown, who would lose $860,294, or one-seventeenth of his 2019 salary of $14.625 million, for each game that he's suspended without pay. He signed a three-year, $50.1 million contract with the Raiders as part of the offseason trade that sent him to Oakland from the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Raiders also could attempt to recoup a portion of the $30.1 million in guaranteed money in the contract.
Brown, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection while with the Steelers, began training camp on the non-football injury list due to injuries to his feet, reportedly suffered while undergoing cryotherapy treatments in France in early July. Brown confirmed the injury during interviews on HBO's "Hard Knocks."
He also spent a sizable chunk of camp arguing with the NFL over his use of the helmet he has used throughout his career. Brown filed two unsuccessful grievances against the league seeking to be allowed to wear a helmet not approved by the NFL under its joint program with the players' union, in which various helmet models are evaluated for their ability to absorb impacts.
The Raiders open their season Monday night at home against the Denver Broncos.
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