Antonio Brown Files Helmet Grievance Against NFL and Apparently That's a Real Thing

Folks, Antonio Brown walks to the beat of his own drum. Want to know the status of his bizarrely frostbitten feet? Maybe he'll tell you, maybe he won't. Want to know why he's not hanging out at Oakland Raiders camp? Hey, perhaps AB went AWOL. Want him to wear a league-mandated helmet just like everyone else?

Tough beans. He's reportedly filing a grievance against the NFL on that very subject.

What, what's a "helmet grievance"?

Per Adam Schefter, Brown insists on being able to wear a helmet of his choosing, understood to be the Schutt Air Advantage model he wore as a member of the Steelers. League rules, in the interest of safety and accountability, don't permit players to make their own personal decisions about helmet choice.

As Schefter notes, that particular Schutt helmet is no longer certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, which means the NFL will not use it.

At this point, the grievance case is set to go before an arbitrator. And it's hard to imagine a ruling in Brown's favor here, as his insistence is purely personal preference rather than (as far as we can tell) anything resembling a safety concern.

But as with anything concerning No. 84, we ought to learn to expect the unexpected.