Vontaze Burfict has new teammates, having signed a one-year contract worth up to $5 million with the Oakland Raiders.
Before he signed with the team, he definitely knew that former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown had been traded there. When that fact was brought up to Burfict, he set the record straight on what people can expect going forward.
“We’re on the same team,” Burfict said Tuesday night, via Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s one goal. It’s all positive, man. He’s a great player. . . .I’m going to approach him just like I do all my other teammates. There’s nothing negative here. We’re on the same team. We’re trying to win a championship here.”
Brown and Burfict played each other for years in the AFC North, and most notably in a 2015 playoff matchup where Burfict knocked out Brown with an illegal hit to the head.
The former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker would be suspended three games as a result.
The league also fined Burfict for a hit to Brown’s head during the 2018 season.
“I’m not a dirty player,” Burfict said Tuesday. “I play a physical position. I can’t go out there patty-cake. If I play soft, I’m not doing my job.”
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Brown got a bit of payback in 2017 when JuJu Smith-Schuster dropped an illegal hit on Burfict that had him carted off the field with Brown yelling “karma” while reporters interviewed JuJu after the game.
“It’s all fun and games,” Burfict said. “We’re on the same team. . . .We might be the closest friends on the team. Just got to go along with it. I can’t wait to meet him.”
