I don’t know how this Antonio Brown business is going to resolve itself, but Jerry Rice could remain a part of the story until then. In a recent interview with 247 Sports, he talked about how his conversation with Brown led to the 49ers rumors.
“To be honest, I had been communicating back and forth with Antonio Brown, and we were just talking in general, and all of the sudden, this big whole thing came up, saying that I was trying to get him to San Francisco,” Rice said. “He pretty much reached out and said, ‘You know, I think I would love to come to San Francisco and play.’ So I took that to [49ers general manager] John Lynch, and John Lynch probably took it to [head coach] Kyle Shanahan. I don’t even know if [the 49ers] are gonna have an opportunity to get him, but he was very interested.”
This could be the cold, hard truth, or it could be an exaggeration from the GOAT. Given the interactions Brown and Rice have had on social media, it would not really be all that surprising if this is exactly how it played out, but I wouldn’t exactly be surprised if it was a little exaggerated.
This kind of reminds of 2009 when M.C. Hammer was working on behalf of Michael Crabtree during the latter’s holdout following the NFL Draft. Rice’s relationship with Brown is a much more expected relationship, but it’s a little random how a third party has become so thoroughly involved in the situation.
Whatever the case, the whole situation is fairly quiet for the time being. There was a chance something could happy by the end of Super Bowl weekend, but my guess is this will carry at least into the Combine, if not further. And I imagine we’ll hear more from the GOAT.
Here’s audio from his discussion with 247 Sports.