Potential Breakthrough Emerges in Antonio Brown Helmet Standoff With NFL

Folks, the nightmare appeared like it might be over, and yes, it really might actually be over. It's been a maelstrom of an offseason for Antonio Brown, who kicked and screamed his way out of Pittsburgh only to show up in Oakland, suffer a bizarre foot injury, and pitch a fit about wearing a helmet the NFL no longer approves for use.

But perhaps we have a way forward at long last. Per ESPN's Josina Anderson, AB's camp claims to possess a documented assurance from the league that the superstar receiver can wear a newer model of the helmet he used to wear. It's simply up to a labor arbitrator to issue a final ruling.

My understanding is Antonio Brown's side has documentation that he was told he cd wear a newer version of his desired helmet. It'll be up to the arbitrator to determine the relevancy of who told AB that, if relevancy is negated by when he was told & whether it should be binding.
— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) August 21, 2019

How the hell did we get here? Well, the NFL somewhat recently revised the list of helmets it permits for use in practices and games. Eliminated from that list is the Schutt Air Advantage, the specific model that Brown coveted as a member of the Steelers.

#Raiders WR Antonio Brown wore a Schutt Vengeance Z10 LTD helmet today in practice, per source. It is among the 34 helmets approved for use after the NFL-NFLPA laboratory tests were conducted early this year and sent to players in April. It’s in the green grouping of helmets.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 20, 2019

Based on Anderson's report, a newer Schutt helmet could be the Raiders' ticket out of all this mess.

Fingers crossed that this ridiculous brouhaha can soon be locked up mercifully in the past.