‘We all got played’ — Jerry Rice suggests Antonio Brown wanted to be a Patriot all long

After Antonio Brown forced his way out of Oakland and landed in New England, Jerry Rice, who once vouched for the 49ers to snap up the mercurial wide receiver, addressed the remarkable storyline on “Joe, Lo & Dibs.”

“We all got played, man,” Rice said. “We did."

Back in January, Rice spoke at length on 95.7 The Game about how much Brown wanted to be in the Bay with the Niners.

“He wants to come here really bad.”Jerry Rice on Antonio Brown’s interest in the #49ers -- pic.twitter.com/0mXGoMVmcP

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) January 14, 2019

"I’m gonna be honest with you, because, this guy, he contacted me and he told me that he wanted to play ball here in the Bay Area. He wanted to be part of the San Francisco 49ers.”

“So, I bought into it because I can only take a man at his word and stuff like that. But I think this, it was pretty much already planned. He had to take a different direction. First of all, I think when he asked to be released by the Steelers, he wanted to go to the Patriots. He wanted them to trade him to the Patriots. And there was no way that the Steelers would trade him to a rival. So he had to go a different route. And he decided to come through the Bay Area. And I feel sorry for the fans over in Oakland…”

“He was a Denzel Washington and he won the Oscar. He won an Oscar, guys. I’m gonna be honest with you.