New Details Surface on Verbal Dispute Between Antonio Brown and Mike Mayock

Earlier this week it was reported that Antonio Brown and Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock got into a verbal dispute. It was indicated by sources that the fight stemmed from a disciplinary letter Brown posted online, in which he accused the team of harboring negative feelings toward him for missing practices. A source close to the situation has detailed what went down to ESPN, accusing Brown of calling Mayock a “cracker.”

The argument was sparked due to the fines that Brown was required to pay due to missing a number of practices over his helmet disputes. When Brown noticed that Mayock was watching a recent practice this past week, he approached the GM and made it clear he was not happy about the fines. The source said that Brown used strong language and “cuss words” during the exchange, while Mayock remained calm. “[Mayock] was like, ‘I’m cool, I understand your displeasure,” the source explained. “[Mayock] sort of just like … just walked away because he saw it escalate.” 

The situation allegedly escalated pretty quickly, although it never got physical. Linebacker Vontaze Burfict reportedly tried to intervene. The argument in question is what led to the rumors over the Raiders discussing the possibility of suspending the player. “When he saw [Mayock], he was like, ‘I can address it,” the source added. “Nobody works as hard. Nobody loves the game as much, but [it] seems like there is something that is distracting him from his love that [he] can’t control.”

On Thursday, Mayock told reporters that the wide receiver was not present at practice. “Like I said, I’m not going to get into all of this,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said when asked about whether Brown will be suspended. “Obviously, [Brown] wasn’t here today, and when we have some information for you, we’ll give it to you. … I’ve been talking about the same guy every day.”