Antonio Brown Has Request For Patriots Fans Amid Grievance Case With Team

Antonio Brown’s Instagram Live videos are always shocking. The troubled player was working out at a South Florida park, and it was the perfect opportunity for him to talk about his career and he even made a request for the Patriots fanbase. It’s actually strange that he said anything like this because he has already filed a grievance against the team.

“If you follow the Patriots, tell them to call me. They have to pay me, may as well make me earn it,” Brown said.

The receiver is trying to get some of the guaranteed money he was about to receive when Kraft offered him a deal. Brown has also filed a grievance against the Oakland Raiders. There’s a chance for him to earn more than $40 million.

Brown’s request is sort of confusing. Stephen A. Smith was shocked. He bashed the receiver on ESPN’s “First Take.”

“I was like, ‘Did I miss something? Did I miss the news that he won the grievance and the Patriots gotta pay him?’ Because I didn’t recall seeing that, so when he said, ‘They gotta pay me anyway,’ I was like, ‘Really? When did that happen?’ Because I didn’t know that,” Smith said. “Now having said all of that, the word that comes to mind is ‘phony’ or ‘phoniness.’ That’s the word that comes to my mind when I’m thinking about Antonio Brown. And here’s the reason why, more so than anything else: Correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t we see (Antonio Brown) on his couch or his chair in the living room of his home in Pittsburgh being interviewed by our very own Mr. Fowler for ESPN, if I remember correctly months ago, didn’t he say, ‘I don’t need football.’ Talking about Antonio Brown here. He said, ‘I don’t need football. I don’t need the money.’ I’m sorry, did I hear him correctly?

“I think I’m quoting him accurately: ‘I don’t need the money and I don’t need football. You understand. There are more things in life that matter?’ I recall listening to him on the phone with (Raiders coach) Jon Gruden, when Jon Gruden said, ‘Man, I want you to be here,’ when (Brown) was secretly taping him, violating California state laws by the way. Didn’t he say … ‘I’m more than a football player. I’m a man. You know, there’s more to life than playing football. There’s more to life than the money.’ So now you’re talking about the money and the football. Really? Now that you’re not playing. You told us it didn’t matter to you. You told Jon Gruden it didn’t matter. You told the Pittsburgh Steelers it didn’t matter. Well now it matters, huh? I’m sorry, the word that comes to my mind is ‘phoniness.’ ”