Jerry Rice says that Antonio Brown played it, think Brown's signature with Patriots has always been the plan

The recent actions of Antonio Brown have apparently caused a break between him and one of his football idols.

Jerry Rice, who is considered the greatest receiver of the history of the NFL, spoke publicly on Monday about Brown's recent trip from Oakland to New England after forcing the Raiders to release him so that he becomes a free agent. Rice, a former member of the San Francisco Raiders and 49ers, has repeatedly talked with Brown this winter about playing in the Bay Area after asking for an exchange in Pittsburgh.

"We all played," said Rice, 95.7 The Game. "He contacted me, he told me that he wanted to play ball here in the Bay Area.I bought it because I can only take that one. a man at the word, but I think [signing with New England] was already planned. "

Rice is not the only one to think that Brown had become a patriot from the start. ESPN's Adam Schefter announced on Sunday morning that New England had offered Brown a first round pick for Pittsburgh, before the Steelers bought it in Oakland for third and fifth round picks. In addition, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Sunday that Brown had hired social media consultants to speed up his release from Oakland. As everyone knows, it worked because Brown came out Saturday after post a video this included a private conversation between him and Raiders head coach Jon Gruden on Friday night.

Earlier in the week, Oakland had nearly suspended Brown, apparently after an altercation with GM Mike Mayock. Brown debuted last week by sharing Mayock's letter informing him of recent fines imposed by his team on social media. All this came after a pre-season Brown lost a lot of time with his feet frozen while fighting with the NFL to get the right to use his now illegal helmet.

Many wondered how Brown could be so crazy after being released by the Raiders while immediately losing more than $ 29 million in guaranteed money.

On Monday morning, Peter King, of NBC Sports, wrote that Gruden, in an interview with ESPN's Dianna Russini, had stated that Brown was never "all-in" in Oakland. This seems to suggest that Brown has never seriously thought that he would play a significant duel with the Raiders, a team that had risen to 4-12 in 2018.

Despite the feeling of foul play, King announced on Monday that the league did not intend to look into Brown's bizarre behavior in Oakland or his signing with New England.

Drew Rosenhaus, Brown's agent, spoke about the rumors surrounding his client Monday morning. Rosenhaus insisted during an interview with ESPN, that there was no predefined plan to bring Brown to New England.

"We were in heavy negotiations with two teams," said Rosenhaus, "and there was a good chance that Antonio signed with a team that did not call the New England Patriots … I can Make sure it was a competitive negotiation for him as a free agent, and the deal was only concluded on Saturday afternoon, around 5 pm. "

Despite Rosenhaus's assurances, many fans and media still believe Brown's plan was to end up in Foxboro. NBC's Al Michaels joked several times during Sunday's game between the Patriots and the Steelers. Brown used Oakland as a "connecting flight" to travel from Pittsburgh to New England.

Be that as it may, there is no doubt about the success of Brown's reputation over the past eight months. Although he found a way to be on the list of reigning world champions, it cost him the respect of people like Rice, who feels that, like many people, he was played by Brown. on his way to Foxboro.