Antonio Brown Sets an NFL Record: For Most Grievances Filed

Adam Schefter – Antonio Brown’s battles will shift from social media to the legal variety.

Brown is the first player in NFL history poised to file nine grievances and appeals during the same time period, league sources told ESPN.

Brown’s nine appeals and grievances will be a legal battle to try to recoup as much of the $61-plus million that he believes is owed to him.

The grievances and appeals involve the following issues and sums of money:

• Fine appeals with the Oakland Raiders: $215,000

• Salary guarantees with Oakland: $29 million

• Signing bonus with Raiders: $1 million

• Oakland’s unpaid Week 1 salary: $860,000

• New England Patriots’ salary guarantee: $1 million

• Patriots signing bonus: $9 million

• Patriots’ unpaid Week 3 salary: $64,000

• Patriots’ option year in 2020: $20 million

As if that wasn’t enough, if the NFL disciplines Brown and suspends him — which is well within the realm of possibility — Brown could appeal that as well, which would make him the first player in NFL history to have nine different appeals generated from one season.

So to review. Antonio Brown signed two separate contracts. Negotiated by  the highly paid labor attorneys of two separate franchises. And before he got the point where he hit the guarantees included in said deals he respectively:

* Froze his feet, refused to wear the league-approved helmet, skipped camp and called his boss a cracker. And

* Got sued for sexual assault, was accused of sexual harassment in a published report and included the second accuser in a group text that called her “broke” and had pictures of her kids.

Let me get this straight. You violate legal agreements that include out clause language written by people who sign million dollar deals over their morning coffee before the money gets paid out. And your plan is to sue these men?

This is funny to me on a personal level because in 17 years of belonging to a union – a public sector union for state employees – I never once filed a grievance of any kind. I actually tried to make sure I didn’t know the first thing about the process. Because early on I figured out that 0.5% of them are legitimate. And the guys who file them on a regular basis are the sorts of incorrigible, useless, pains in the ass I wanted nothing to do with. So it’s only fitting that Brown is the NFL record holder in the category.

But hey, I don’t blame Mr. Big Chest. At least not for this. I do blame him for quitting on the Raiders before he ever took a snap for them and blowing a once-in-a-lifetime second chance the Patriots were giving him. And for just being a delusional, self-absorbed nitwit in general. But when you piss away your opportunity to collect $61 million, you go to court and shoot your shot.

And there is no doubt in my mind that regardless of how much his lawyers like his chances, Brown thinks he’s got this money coming to him. That he deserves it. That he got screwed and he’s 1000% blameless in all this. Despite the fact both teams wanted nothing more than for him to show up every day and simply not be a dink. And he couldn’t make it beyond four quarters of regular season football. Because prior to the last two Sundays, he’s always been allowed to get away with whatever. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, he’ll ask for a glass of milk.

So again, best of luck with this. I’ll be looking forward to the transcript of Brown’s deposition on this one. I’m sure it’s going to be some of the legal arguing since John Quincy Adams at the Amistad trials. And congratulations are in order too, since this pretty much guarantees he’ll never get signed by another NFL team and that game check he made for the Miami game is the last money he’ll ever make in the league. Smart move.