Antonio Brown, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, just cannot stay on a team. He has been on three teams in just six months, and he seems to have retired from the league.
But why has he been on so many teams if he's really that good? Well it's because of all of his off the field situations and messes. Let's take a look into the divas of the NFL, the wide receivers.
According to dictionary.com, a diva is 'a distinguished female singer; prima donna'. Although that is technically true, people referred to divas are usually someone who is temperamental and hard to please, and someone who acts overly entitled.
Some non-sports examples would be Madonna, Beyonce and Lady Gaga (these are internet examples- don't attack me).
Some examples at the wide receiver position in the NFL include Antonio Brown (AB), Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ), Terrell Owens (TO), Randy Moss and Dez Bryant. This article will be taking a deeper look into what they did to classify themselves as divas.
To start, Terrell Owens, who played for the Eagles, Bengals, Bills and Cowboys, is one of the all time greats. He did not win any Super Bowls, and many think that he was the reason because of his selfish attitude, which did not amuse his teammates.
He was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the greatest honour in the NFL. But he was not voted in at his first opportunity, and he had to wait longer than he thought he should've had to. And many agree with him, saying that the Hall of Fame is based on achievements, not behaviour, which was a motivation for many to keep him out of the Hall his first go around.
Anyways, he decided to not go to the Hall of Fame ceremony, where the NFL honours the players elected in. He instead held his own ceremony at his alma mater, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Personally, I think that is rather selfish, and he was diverting the attention from the regular ceremony to his own.
Louis Riddick of ESPN also thought the same.
“But this is a big moment, everyone who goes into talks about how memorable and emotional this is, not just about them but those who supported them and those who gave them the chance to have something so momentous happen in their career. We are talking about TO in the light as a selfish individual”
Terrell Owens, however good he was, is largely seen as overly entitled, which would classify anyone as a diva.
Next we have Odell Beckham Jr. Because he was in New York for a good amount of years, his antics are always in the spotlight. Here's a video of his behaviour, which included punching a water cooler and a ginormous fan ( the ones that blow air), and starting multiple fights and getting multiple penalties.
As you can see, Odell clearly had some interesting behaviour in New York. FoxSports actually ranked the 19 biggest divas in the current NFL, and Odell was in it. He was ranked second of all players, and first among wide receivers (Full rankings: Ranking the 19 Biggest Divas in the NFL).
One of the most controversial was during the off season of 2018. A video was leaked of him in bed, with pizza and a mysterious white substance (probably some form of drugs). There was talk on whether or not the New York Giants should release or trade him,which they didn't. Yet. But earlier this year, OBJ was traded to the Cleveland Browns.
Many people, myself included, think that this is a good opportunity for Odell. He is out of the spotlight, he already got loads of money and deals, and now he can focus on football. He seems pretty excited about the challenge of leading the Browns offense alongside Baker Mayfield and Kareem Hunt, he's just not too keen on being in Cleveland
OBJ will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest divas in the NFL, not just at his position, but of all positions, and all time.
Lots of people also forget about Randy Moss and his attitude, largely due to his achievements. He was also one of the best to do it, also with no championship wins. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018, his first year of eligibility.
However, Bleacher Report ranked Moss fourth all time among wide receiver divas, and most of his teammates would rank him higher.
One of his teammates, while Moss was on the Minnesota Vikings, shared a story of when a local family restaurant catered for the team.
Moss yelled, “What the [expletive]? Who ordered this crap? I wouldn’t feed this to my dog!”
Said the witness: “It was brutal. The truth is, he deserved to be cut after that. It was such an uncomfortable moment. You know that feeling where you just can tell someone feels so small? That’s what it was like being there.
“This wasn’t a chain – it was a mom-and-pop restaurant, and you could tell it was their best stuff. They had a special carving station set up, and there were players and other support staff lining up to eat it. And [Moss] is at his locker saying, ‘You know, I used to have to eat that crap – but now I’ve got money.’ You just felt so sad for them. I had never seen anyone treated like that.
“And by the way, the food was actually really good.”
I think that pretty much sums up Randy Moss' attitude and behaviour.
Only 2 more guys, bear with me.
Dez Bryant, longtime Dallas Cowboy, was often called a 'sideline volcano'. He was always having negative encounters with his teammates and coaches. Here's a compilation video of his fights:
There were many instances where Dez erupted, and he had a thing with his helmet. He often took it off on the field when he was upset, which is not allowed. He threw it quite often, and sometimes ran onto the field without it to protest calls.
Unfortunately, he was never really punished because of how good he was at his job.
Last but certainly not least, Antonio Brown. AB has had plenty instances of bad behaviour, many of which are pretty recent.
Here's what Antonio Brown has done these last 9 or so months. He sat out a crucial Week 17 game, where he might have cost the Steelers the playoffs. He then publicly asked to be traded, and he was, to the Oakland Raiders.
He then had online beef with Juju Smith-Schuster, former teammate, and Ryan Clark, of ESPN. He arrived to one practice in Oakland in a hot air balloon, and missed many others. He then forgot to wear proper footwear in a cryo chamber, and got frostbite on his feet(🤦♂️).
A week later, he filed a grievance against the NFL, saying that he would retire if he couldn't wear an outdated helmet, from 2011.
“At this point, we've pretty much exhausted all avenues of relief," Mayock, Raiders General Manager said of the helmet saga. "So from our perspective, it's time for him to be all-in or all-out."
AB's second helmet request was also rejected. But he finally found a helmet he liked that was within NFL standards. So all was well.
Not.
Hours later, Maycock fined Brown 54k for missing practice and team events. The day after, Brown confronted Maycock, and had to be held back by teammates and coaches. He apologized the day after, and Coach John Gruden said that AB would play Week 1.
But of course, all was still not well. The Raiders suspended him, which allowed them to void his $29M contract, and they did. After that, Brown asked to be released, which he was.
He then, hours later, signed with the New England Patriots, something the Ringer's Bill Simmons was vocally against. But alas he was on the Patriots, and managed about 12 hours before something else happened.
His former trainer filed a lawsuit against Brown, for sexual assault. I won't get into the details, and if you want to know more just Google it. Almost immediately after the allegations were made known, Nike dropped him and his signature show, costing him millions.
He was somehow allowed to play Week 2, logging 56 yards and a touchdown, but his future remained unclear. Just a couple days ago, the Patriots also released Antonio Brown, before he could get any money. So he's made a total of 150k this year.
Monday morning or so (ACST), Brown released a statement in which he pretty much said he was retiring from the NFL and that the NFL contracts are a joke. I think they are too, but he definitely should not make any money this year except for the one game he actually played.
And so we see the downfall of a great wide receiver, and all because of things he did off the field. Let this be a lesson, that no matter how good you are at something, there will still be consequence for your actions, which Antonio Brown learned the hard way. Don't do stupid stuff, and you'll be able to keep the people and things you love close to you.
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