Antonio Brown did a victory lap after being released by the Raiders: 'I'm free!'

Antonio Brown wanted out of Oakland and requested his release from the Raiders on Saturday morning in an Instagram post, saying in part: “I’m just asking for the freedom to prove them all wrong.”

Well, it didn’t take long for the team to oblige after weeks of drama with the star wide receiver. The Raiders released him hours later, and as a free agent, Brown reportedly signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots — which football fans on Twitter predicted would happen. It includes a $9 million signing bonus, and he could earn up to $15 million this season.

In the middle of all this madness — especially as things escalated in the last 24 hours — Brown shared a video on YouTube on Friday night that includes a conversation with Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Although it’s unclear when this phone call happened, Brown says he’s being portrayed as a “villain” and he just wants to play football.

And then Saturday, he posted a YouTube video of supposedly the moment he found out he was getting released, reacting to news from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. In the description of the video — which was posted about the same time the news of his Patriots deal broke —he wrote:

In this crazy world I have to surround myself with winners. People who protect me. People that in just as much work as me. People who respect me as a human. Time to show out!

Warning: This video contains NSFW language.

His initial reaction included yelling, “I’m free!” and running outside in circles celebrating while flapping his arms like a bird. He also called his grandmother, telling her: “God is the greatest.”

Maybe Brown just really, really didn’t want to play for the Raiders and was willing to risk millions of dollars to get out. If that’s the case, it all worked out, and he’s still getting paid handsomely, according to multiple reports.