ANTONIO BROWN’S RAIDER IMAGE CREATED DAY IN ADVANCE
After word got out Saturday that Antonio Brown had been traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Oakland Raiders, a flurry of images featuring Brown photoshopped into a Raiders uniform hit Twitter.

Raider Image Antonio Brown Tweeted Contracted Out With Graphic Artist Before Announcement
Here is a sampling of the images that went out via Tweets about Brown from Twitters users and the media.
Antonio Brown in silver and black ☠️
There is a verbal agreement for AB to be traded to the Oakland Raiders, per @AdamSchefter. pic.twitter.com/mYRcfIclbd
— ESPN (@espn) March 10, 2019
I really want Antonio Brown. A true #1 receiver. Opens up the offense. Will give other receivers one on ones. Defenses won't be able to stack the box much with AB here. Derek Carr to AB would be BOOOOOOMIN! @AB84 @Raiders pic.twitter.com/lkFnR28vpP
— Bandido (@Oklandraida84) March 5, 2019
Antonio Brown just announced on his Twitter account (@AB84) that he is an Oakland Raider pic.twitter.com/QiLsJ7NwNo
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 10, 2019
Derek Carr drops back in the pocket, looks, throws… CAUGHT! Touchdown Antonio Brown with no time left!
Final score: Chiefs 42 – Raiders 7 pic.twitter.com/WTZktK5qVD— Ghetto Gronk (@TheGhettoGronk) March 10, 2019
It appears Antonio Brown is joining the Raiders via his Instagram.#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/lPMTqp386l
— Allan Bell (@AllanBell247) March 10, 2019
BREAKING: Antonio Brown is heading to the Raiders, per @ProFootballTalk pic.twitter.com/B93aw2fJxP
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 10, 2019
How Antonio Brown became a Raider, the other two teams that were left with them at the end, and how fragile this thing was on Saturday … All here: https://t.co/5XMoa2SrAx pic.twitter.com/fgMUemWq9x
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 11, 2019
Television wasn’t immune from joining in as well, as FS1’s First Things First and ESPN’s Get Up! and SportsCenter also featured photoshopped images of the latest player acquisition by the Raiders.
The most notable of all of the doctored images though has to be the one that Brown himself Tweeted out in announcing he was an Oakland Raider.
☠️☠️☠️ #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/ul6lIVk9dE
— Antonio Brown (@AB84) March 10, 2019
That particular image was then picked up by media members, sports celebs and, of course, fans.
What it looks like, via @AB84. pic.twitter.com/HMAa6itpfP
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2019
Yessir AB!!!! @ we on now 🤷🏽♂️ @AB84 https://t.co/wT4t19Waq7
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) March 10, 2019
There it is. Antonio Brown has been traded to the #Raiders, source confirms. https://t.co/tR0SkfrOYt
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2019
In today's FMIA column at @NBCSports, you'll find:
🏴☠️ Antonio Brown to Raiders, and all the fallout
😐 Why free agency could be a dud
🤔 Le'Veon Bell, Jet? Earl Thomas, Texan?
👰🏽🤵🏽 Reflections on my daughter's wedding
⚾️ T-shirt of the Week
✍️ More: https://t.co/qs64mLy0lR— Peter King (@peter_king) March 11, 2019
The bottom-right of the image that Brown originally Tweeted out of himself in a Raiders uniform included a signature that read, “Pantzke.”
It turns out “Pantzke” is a graphic artist named Mitchell Pantzke.
Pantzke, who is based in Wisconsin and attended UW-Stout, revealed exclusively to Sports by Brooks today that the image Brown Tweeted out in announcing the trade was no coincidence.
Pantzke:
“Antonio Brown’s camp (photographer Christian Diaz) reached out to me a day before the news broke. Their thought was it would go public that night. So, with that in mind, I had to turn the piece around as soon as I could. …
“… They allowed me to keep my watermark in case tagging didn’t happen. I wanted the mark over tagging, which boded well if other accounts used the piece…Plenty others did.”
Pantzke also took us through the creative process in creating the image while providing background on his relationship with Brown and his representatives:
“The original was pulled from Google images. I looked for a helmet-less base photo to show off Brown’s face and wild hair so it was very recognizable, but emotion-filled. Plus, a chance to photoshop his blonde mustache. The shot shows his confidence, his swagger. …
“… This was not the first encounter (with Brown). AB followed me on Twitter, and liked a ton of my creative while I recruited him to Green Bay. Being a marketer, I wanted to capitalize on a fan favorite and show AB in Packers gear as GB became a potential landing spot, so because of this, he saw my creative prior to the Raiders piece.”
Here are the images Pantzke refers to in which the graphic artist places Brown in a Green Bay Packers uniform.
Like our own interaction with Pantzke, the initial communication between the Baldwin, Wisconsin-based graphic artist and Antonio Brown came via Twitter, where Pantzke can be found at @_Pantzke.