Antonio Brown opens Raiders Napa training camp in style with hot air balloon ride, Gruden expected ‘a lot more drama’

Ah, Napa. God’s country. And what better way to experience it than from the basket of a hot air balloon? That must be part of what Antonio Brown figured when he hopped in a hot air balloon on Raiders training camp report day.

No doubt this delighted the Hard Knocks crew on hand. The more antics the better for their ratings. Jon Gruden embraced it for the most part. His only concern is the health of his star receiver.

“Is he ok, that’s all I want to know,’ said Gruden. “I expect a lot more drama from number 84, I really do. I’ve told Antonio try not to yell at Derek, yell at me when you have a problem. Then he started yelling at me, I said don’t yell at me, yell at Olson, he’s the offensive coordinator.

“He’s a fun guy to be around, man. I expected a bit more than a hot air balloon. I thought he might jump out of an airplane and parachute in himself. He’s going to add a lot of life to this organization at a position where obviously we need some explosive plays.”

These balloon rides take off at round 5am and land around 8am, so AB was done well before he was to report to the Napa Valley Marriott for camp.

Though Gruden leaned into Brown’s balloon adventure, he would later say that he would prefer that of all the admirable traits Brown has, fellow starting receiver Tyrell Williams not start doing similar stunts.