Antonio Brown returns to Raiders as team broke camp, but there was no practice
One day after Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock delivered a message to Antonio Brown through the media – “it’s time for him to be all in or all out” – Brown returned to the Raiders’ facility on Monday.
Returned to facility, but no practice
Via multiple reports, the receiver returned to the team’s facility on Monday, but the Raiders met only briefly to break camp.
There was no practice or walkthrough; though a walkthrough wouldn’t have required a helmet.
Earlier Monday, Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, appeared on ESPN to spin the ridiculous situation with Brown, who is trying to find a specific helmet that will be certified as safe.
Antonio Brown's agent Drew Rosenhaus explains why AB is not in camp right now: pic.twitter.com/iI5yl4ll0D
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) August 19, 2019
The NFL alerted its players well over a year ago about the helmet bans. The National Operating Committee for Standards and Athletic Equipment, or NOCSAE, won’t certify equipment over 10 years old.
Waiting for thumb’s up
Brown put out a request on social media for Schutt AiR Advantage helmets made within the past 10 years (the company no longer makes that particular model); the NFL told Brown that it would let him wear one of the helmets if it was less than 10 years old and passed testing.
He apparently got three; the first, made in 2011, did not pass testing. Agent Drew Rosenhaus said there are two others, made in 2014 and 2010, still to be tested.
(Just so we’re all on the same page: if the 2010 model is given the thumb’s up, we might be right back here again next year since in 2020 it will be 10 years old.)
There are two dozen helmet models the NFL and NFL Players Association announced last year as acceptable for players to wear, including 11 manufactured by Schutt. While the safety ratings are new, players have known for years that they could not wear equipment that was not NOCSAE certified.
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