Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young saw the writing on the wall. A lot of people probably did. It looks like general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan weren't even interested in wide receiver Antonio Brown because the team never made a play to acquire him.
Brown came with a lot of baggage. Bringing him into your locker room was always going to be a gamble. The Oakland Raiders were in a betting mood and went for it. It didn't pay off. And now, that other Bay Area team is trying to figure out how to get out of what has turned into a very complicated and embarrassing situation, and Lynch and Shanahan look like geniuses for never pursuing Brown.
Young joined KNBR on Thursday night and said the Raiders should have been more prepared for what came with acquiring Brown. They weren't, and now one of the more intriguing marriages from the offseason has become a very awkward situation.
"You know he had trouble on other teams," Young said on the "Tolbert, Krueger and Brooks" show. "Get ahead of this stuff. The idea that he got into an argument and a shouting match (with general manager Mike Mayock), to me, you should have gotten ahead of that months ago."
Brown reportedly issued an apology to the Raiders on Friday during a team meeting. Still, it's not the start to the 2019 season Oakland or its fans had hoped for.
Young doesn't believe a personality like Brown's could have gotten out of control within the locker rooms he was a part of because of the leadership on those teams. Former coach Bill Walsh used to leave it up to the players to solve any locker room issues because he knew if he had to step in, there was a problem with the makeup of the team.
"Just think about the 100 guys who came through with tremendous leadership skills," Young said. "So you can bring in Deion Sanders in 1994. You've got such an established locker room. [...] The same thing with Terrell Owens."
Young believes Walsh and former owner Eddie DeBartolo would have been willing to take a chance on someone like Brown because of the players they already had in place.
"You either came in, and you were productive, or we would spit you out," Young continued. "It wouldn't be the coach or the general manager. The players would spit you out. 'No, you need to go.' In that way, you can't go wrong because the locker room is stronger than that kid, stronger than one guy."
Young points out that Owens' antics, him going to the star in Dallas against the Cowboys, didn't happen until the former quarterback and the rosters he was a part of were gone.
"If Terrell Owens had gone to the star with Tim McDonald on the team, Tim McDonald, he would have told him to stay," Young said. "'Don't even come to the plane.' When you've got a locker room that's going to self-police and leadership that can pull it off, then Antonio Brown can come in, and he'll be fine."
What about the current 49ers team? They have a pretty good locker room dynamic and several leaders. Maybe they are not at the level of some of Young's teams just yet, but would the same thing have happened in Santa Clara? You know, if the 49ers had been interested in the first place.
While Brown may have been willing to yell at his general manager, Mike Mayock, Coach Shanahan doesn't believe it would have happened with Lynch.
"I think Red 47 (Lynch) can handle himself; he'll be alright with that," Shanahan said Friday morning on KNBR. "... John's got a different presence. Who knows what he would do, but that wouldn't be a smart decision (by Brown)."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Young below.
You can listen to Shanahan's Friday-morning interview below.
