U Gotta Know When To Hold'em!

Now every gambler knows 

The secret to survivin'

Is knowin' what to throw away

And knowin' what to keep.
- lines from Kenny Rogers "The Gambler"

On the morning of the NFL regular season kickoff, the Raiders and star receiver Antonio Brown are headline news; and it ain't good news.

Seems Brown and Raiders GM Mike Mayock had a verbal confrontation over a letter sent to Brown about fining him. Mayock is now talking suspension. If suspended, the Raiders could back away from the $30 million contract they gave Brown and then likely cut him from the team.

Problem now is we just don't know all the facts about the confrontation, other than that it was verbal and not physical. But supposedly Brown had to be held back from going after Mayock, supposedly.

My take on this whole thing with Brown is that the Raiders knew what they were getting with AB and they rolled the dice. Sure they could bow out now, cutting their loses and recouping $30 mil., but that would be an admittance to making a big mistake to begin with in rolling the dice.  As for a season without Antonio Brown on the field, that's like the Warriors losing Kevin Durant for the season. And we all know how the Warriors season turned out without KD down the stretch.

So I say let AB be AB as long as he produces on the field. I don't think he's disrupting the team or its play on the field. We know what he can do on the field, so let'em make up for any off-field mistakes by producing plays on the field. Its time for some football dammit, and the Raiders have a shot at being contenders this season; but only if AB is on the field. 

Breaking News

NFL Network will air Raiders coach John Gruden  addressing the Antonio Brown issue in a press conference today at 1pm, so its serious folks.