Bad for Business

As you have probably surmised by now, I am a rather opinionated fella, and I have a lot of stuff to get off my chest about some of the pieces of ridiculousness going on around our league, so I’m going to jump right in.

Antonio Brown:

What can I say about Antonio Brown that he hasn’t already made evident himself in his foolish actions? If you’re an avid football fan like I am, then you already know the drama that has surrounded Antonio Brown that started at the end of last season with his trade to the Raiders and ended in Massachusetts with his release from the Patriots. Here’s how that goes.

• Due to multiple incidents, Brown was traded from the Steelers to the Raiders
• A few months later, Brown made his grand entrance at training camp in a hot air balloon (nothing compared to the hot air in his head)
• He made a huge fuss about the new helmets that the league is requiring all players to wear. (There are hundreds of players in the league but only one throws a fit about his helmet
• Because of the helmet issue, Brown missed practices and was fined.
• After a few words thrown back and forth with his manager, Brown was ultimately dismissed by the Raiders. 
• Not 24 hours after that, Brown was picked up by NFL blue blood the New England Patriots, where he was readily accepted by legendary quarterback Tom Brady.
• A former trainer accused Brown of sexual harassment and he certainly did not help his cause when he sent “intimidating” text messages to one of his accusers.
• He was released by the Pats the following morning.
• He took to twitter, declaring he was done with the league, throwing many of its star personalities such as Patriots owner, Robert Craft and Steelers QB “Big” Ben Roethlisberger under the bus.
• Brown tweeted that he was returning to his former university of Central Michigan to take online classes

My first thought when the Raiders cut him was “thank God the Chiefs don’t have to worry about covering him twice a year”. When he was released from the Patriots, I thought, “Good, now the Chiefs don’t have to worry about covering him at all.”

There is no sense in denying Brown’s talent. He without a doubt one of the greatest of all time at his position. But if I am a general manager of any team in the league, I am looking at this guy and the baggage he brings with him and problems he leaves in his wake. I am thinking to myself, “It’s not worth it”.  If anything, Brown has proven that his attitude is a detriment to his talent. He is the poster child for what I believe to be one of the biggest problems in the NFL:  players who think that they are bigger than the game. He might be talented, he might even be one of the best, but football will go on, with him or without him. 

When I started following football, I was a big fan of his because he was one of the best receivers to ever play the game. But Brown’s diva attitude is what we call, bad for business.

Jalen Ramsey and the Jaguars

Jags corner back Jalen Ramsey recently argued with his head coach Doug Maron. Obviously we all don’t entirely know what the argument was about, but we all know that Ramsey has not made it a secret that he wishes to be traded from Jacksonville. He has made his wishes to play for another team loud and clear, so for obvious reasons the Jags are a little reticent to sell their star corner to the highest bidder. Despite his constant requests, the Jags will not be trading Ramsey. In what seems like retaliation (even though Ramsey swears it’s not) a recent bout of sicknesses and muscle tightness have kept Ramsey from participating in practices or games.

First off, I honestly don’t know why they didn’t just make his wishes come true and cut him in the first place. He yelled at his coach on the side line of a football game. If I yelled at my boss, I would be fired before all the words were out of my mouth. Look, I get it, he is one of your star players, an anchor of what is believed to be one of the tougher defenses in the league. But last I checked, Ramsey hasn’t been on the field the last couple of games and has been able to get out of practices. You can’t hold a guy hostage and expect him to give you his best. Yes I know, Ramsey signed a contract, so from a business perspective, the Jags have every right to hold on to Ramsey. But do you really should he really have to be forced play for you when he is publicly trying everything to get out of having to do so I say that the Jags should head to the trading table and release their choke hold on Ramsey. There are plenty of teams who would love a corner like Ramsey. And for God’s sake, lower your price tag! I can’t think of any team right now that will look at their current price and think, “Yeah, that’s fair”

That all being said, I don’t want him on my Chiefs. I respect Ramsey, and respect his talent, but just don’t think the Chiefs would be a good fit for him. Just like Brown, Ramsey is one of the best at his position, maybe the best in the league, but also like Brown, he can be a distraction in the locker room. He also has a reputation as a dirty player and it’s a fact that he has a rift with Tyreek Hill. Regardless of where he goes, an NFL team shouldn’t hold a player prisoner if he clearly doesn’t want to be there. So I say to you Jags, sign him over to a team that wants him and a team he wants to be on, and Jags, until you do that, I am afraid you are what, we call, bad for business.

Vontaze Burfict:

Last week, when the Raiders played the Colts, Burfict made a helmet to helmet hit on Colts tight-end, Jack Doyle and was subsequently ejected from the game. Did Burfict walk off the field quietly? Not exactly. Instead, Burfict walked off the field with Colts’ fans booing him the whole way and he smiled and blew kisses to them. The next day, the NFL would clap him with the longest suspension in NFL history for such a crime, Burfict was suspended for the rest of the 2019 season. 

Personally, I have zero issue with the season suspension. I don’t believe the league lowered such a heavy hand due to just one helmet to helmet hit. Burfict has the most notorious reputation in the league for being a dirty player. He has racked up over half a million dollars in fines from the league for similar hits and has be the cause of 14 of those hits. This year-long suspension was not given to Burfict because of one single act of bad behavior, but rather a history of bad behavior. Over the course of his career, Burfict has shown a lack of impulsive control, often allowing his emotions to get the better of him and hurting his fellow players. Sunday’s actions showed, in my opinion, a blatant disregard for the rules, human decency and let’s not forget sportsmanship. If you are a league whose strongest platform is player safety, you cannot allow that sort of thing to go unpunished. So the league did what they thought was best and basically said in no uncertain terms to Burfict, “you are, what we call, bad for business.”