Stephen A. Smith made his return to ESPN's First Take on Monday and he went right to work calling out Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown.
The All Pro receiver has not participated in the Raiders training camp thus far, not only because of his frostbitten feet, but because he simply refuses to wear a new helmet. In short, Brown's old helmet that he used in Pittsburgh is no longer approved by the NOCSAE (National Operating Committee for Standards and Athletic Equipment), and he has threatened to retire because of it.
The Raiders have reportedly been sending Brown different helmets in hopes that he'll finally find one he likes and show up to camp, but thus far he is holding firm on his stance. And if he does suffer an injury while wearing the league-approved helmet, AB reportedly intends to hold the NFL liable.
When asked if AB should just be allowed to wear his old helmet, Smith says, "Hell no."
He continued:
"I asked to speak on this subject to lead the show, cause I couldn't believe the kind of nonsense that I was hearing here last week while I was on vacation. Let me be very, very clear, the answer is hell no."
"Matter of fact, if I'm the National Football League, you know what I do to Antonio Brown? 'Go ahead and leave. Go ahead and retire.' All that noise you made to get out of Pittsburgh to collect $30 million, now you're gonna forfeit it? You don't need football? Bye! See ya when I see ya, good-bye! This is some nonsensical stuff, it really, really rakes my nerves."
Despite Brown's threats and his rocky start in Oakland, the team reportedly expects him to report to camp this week. We'll just have to wait and see.
Check out Stephen A. Smith's comments about the matter in the video embedded below.