New Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown has gotten off to an interesting start to his tenure with his new team, to say the least.
Acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers in an offseason trade, the dynamic wide receiver first revealed that he burned his feet in a cryotherapy session gone wrong before the start of training camp.
His participation at the camp had been limited until he disappeared from Napa Valley on July 30th, citing his unhappiness with the league’s new regulations that prevent him from wearing his preferred helmet. New regulations have established that the Schutt Air Advantage helmet doesn’t meet the safety requirements set by the NFL.
Brown reportedly threatened to retire if the league didn’t allow him to continue wearing his preferred helmet. He cited an inability to properly see the football to make catches as the reason that he doesn’t want to wear any of the new helmet models.
After taking his grievance against the league to an independent arbitrator, Brown found out on Monday that his request to continue using his old helmet had been denied. Despite the reported retirement threats, the veteran receiver took to Instagram to express his disappointment with the decision while expressing excitement to return to training camp at the same time.
Brown is expected to continue rehabbing his injured feet before he’s able to rejoin the Raiders at full capacity.
