Oakland Raiders: 5 most compelling storylines to follow on Hard Knocks
By Justin Fried
4. Potential Antonio Brown/Vontaze Burfict conflict
It may be a non-story at the end of the day, but don’t expect that to stop HBO from doing everything they can to make it one. But who could blame them?
Newcomers Antonio Brown and Vontaze Burfict have legitimate beef dating back to their time as division rivals in the AFC North. Burfict has garnered a not-so-positive reputation around the league for being a “dirty player” and his vicious hits on Brown are a large part of the reason for such a moniker.
Burfict has twice been fined for hits he laid on Brown — one of which earned him a three-game suspension back in 2016. Given Brown’s antics over the past few months, this certainly isn’t something that “Hard Knocks” is going to ignore.
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Brown has made headlines in 2019 much more for negative reasons than positive ones and even if that’s all put behind him by the time September rolls around, that likely isn’t going to matter for “Hard Knocks.”
At one point, Brown and Burfict were bitter foes on rival teams. The two had legitimate gripes with each other dating back to previous incidents between the two.
Regardless of whether or not their beef has been figuratively squashed, the past cannot be erased. And expect “Hard Knocks” to do their best to highlight the past this summer.