Antonio Brown is an A-hole, good luck Patriots

Based on how many attitudes and egos there are in the NFL in a general sense I think you have to work pretty damn hard to make headlines for going above and beyond the normal level of arrogance and tomfoolery that already exists in the millionaires' sports club that is the NFL. However, Antonio Brown was able to accomplish exactly that in a very short space of time.

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Yes, he is a 4-time all-pro (all-star?) and yes he puts up some really impressive numbers for whoever he plays for. Yes he demands (and receives) a very high salary because he definitely will perform for whoever he ends up playing for. He also ends up being loathed by nearly everyone on the team and especially by the management and coaching staff who many could argue are actually "afraid" of the guy.

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After attending a rather overlooked university (Central Michigan - they are good but are overshadowed by the depth of talent in that state) he put up impressive numbers and was drafted to the Steelers for a relatively low price of 1.28 million over 3 years. He immediately began to impress and over the next 9 years he would continue to improve until he was generally regarded as one of the best receivers in the NFL. However, his attitude and constant arguments with team-mates and coaching staff resulted in the team actually being relieved to offload him to the Oakland Raiders.

He was almost immediately problematic, missing practice due to a bizarre foot injury that he made public via Instagram before going to the Oakland management, and then kicking up a fuss about how he "refuses to wear the new style of helmet" and even threatened to retire if the league was going to force him to wear it.

A mere 8 days ago, he got into a shouting match with Raiders General Manager Mike Mayock, where he threatened to attack the 60-year old GM and called him racial slurs in the meeting. This is obviously a "no-no" in any professional sports program or just life in general. (On a side note, imagine the outrage if the GM was a black man and the player doing the shouting was a white guy.)

On the 7th of September, the Raiders had enough of this man's attitude and released him: This is a completely unprecedented occurrence since at $50 million over the course of 3 years - making him one of the highest paid NFL players.

So the Patriots wasted no time in pickup up Brown, although at a significantly diminished price-tag of $9 million per year, with a chance to earn up to 15 million. The question on my mind is: Can they control him? Bill Belichick has a reputation for being able to keep problematic egos in check and it will be interesting to see if he can pull this off.

Personally, I find it a bit dubious that Brown and Tom Brady can form a bond that is very necessary between QB and receiver. The Pats already have 2 outstanding receivers in Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon. Will Brown throw temper tantrums on and off the field if he is overlooked in plays? Only time will tell - and I think it is going to be exciting to see.

In my mind, it isn't going to be terribly surprising if Brown continues to act a fool and eventually gets cut by this team as well. We'll see!