Photo of troubled NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown in his Oakland Raiders uniform


Antonio Brown is no longer an Oakland Raider. 


The saga of Antonio Brown continued after the controversy-embracing NFL wide receiver posted this bizarre hype video on his YouTube channel late Friday night:



The description below the video reads:


With all these false narratives antagonizing me, it’s time for me to control my own narrative. Show the world I’m not the bad guy. Show the world you can free yourself from the lies and become your own person. I am not just AB the football player, I am Antonio Brown, the person, who paved a way for himself to be in charge of his own life. Free me!


The highly-produced video features various artistic shots of AB doing his thing on and off the field, set to audio from a call between AB and Oakland Raiders head coach, Jon Gruden. Gruden can be heard praising AB's work ethic and acknowledging him as one of "the most misunderstood f***ing human being in my life that I've ever met." Gruden then goes on to ask him to "please stop this shit and just play football" 


This comes just hours after Gruden told the media that AB would, in fact, not be suspended and would be suiting up for the Raiders' home opener on Monday night. AB narrowly avoided that suspension after had a much-publicized altercation with Raiders GM Mike Mayockover being fined by the team for not showing up to practice camp due to a dispute with the NFL over his helmet.


As if that weren't enough, AB followed that up with an Instagram post this morning where he tells the Raiders in no uncertain terms, "Release me."


And that’s fine ! I have worked my whole life to prove that the system is blind to see talent like mines.Now that everyone sees it, they want me to conform to that same system that has failed me all those years. “I’m not mad at anyone. I’m just asking for the freedom to prove them all wrong.” Release me @raiders #NOMore #theyputblindersonahorseforareason #NoMoreFake 

According to ESPN's Jeff Darlington, AB was unhappy with the fact that the team made moves that would essentially void all the guaranteed money in his contract.

I just got an email from Antonio Brown. He tells me the team “took away my guarantees.” He added there’s “no way I play after they took that and made my contract week to week.” So at this moment, once again, don’t expect AB to play on Monday Night Football.


Twitter went understandably going absolutely nuts.



Remember when Antonio Brown gave that emotional apology surrounded by team captains and everything was OK?That was 18 hours ago.



In all: Antonio Brown screamed at Mike Mayock, punted a ball and yelled “fine me for that.” And they did, more than $215K, plus voiding all his guarantees of $30M. AB asked for his release, knowing he’s entitled to $0. And the team hasn’t responded. Two days until game day.


Well, it seems the Raiders organization has finally had enough of the drama, as they didn't wait long after AB's "Release Me" post to do exactly that - AB is now a free agent. He is eligible to play as early as week 2 if another team were to snap him up.