Seems a bit strange, though "it's been a while"...of course the gear lever would normally be positioned at "off" after take-off unless you were dealing with one or two of the gear "non-normals", and there are also one or two non-normals where you can't arm the autobrake regardless of gear or gear handle position.
Just a guess but is there any chance there was a bit more to the original story than just the gear lever being at "up"?
Last edited by wiggy; 12th May 2017 at 12:16.