The Backstory
Star wide receiver Antonio Brown has been making jaw-dropping catches for over a decade. First as a member of the “killer b’s” with future hall of fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Le’Veon Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Though stamping his mark as one of the league’s elite talents, Brown left the team after a series of personal clashes with both players and coaches. He was loathe to accept up-and-coming wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in a more prominent role and had trouble coming to terms with the amount of passes the Steeler quarterback directed to him. He also butted heads with Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin after filming an in-house meeting of the minds from the hot tub in the locker room. The ensuing post to his Instagram account was criticized by coach Tomlin and the team famously fell to the Patriots in the AFC championship game that followed.
Antonio Brown held a press conference with then head coach Jon Gruden to declare his contract and dedication to the Raiders in 2019. It didn’t take long for him to butt heads with Raider management. Fans were never treated to one single game with Brown in a Raiders uniform.
That same year, Brown was well on his way to getting a new start with the New England Patriots but the team felt they needed to part ways with him after it was reported he threatened a trainer that had accused him of harassing her.
Even with this track record, football fans and Tampa Bay fans, in particular, had a positive outlook hoping to see him find an NFL city to call home and watch him impress with his athleticism, route running and ball skills. After signing with the Buccaneers, Brown became a contributing member of the wideout corps and even scored a touchdown in the 2021 Super Bowl. He re-signed with Tampa Bay in May of last year and though he missed games due to injuries and a suspension by the NFL for reportedly falsifying his vaccine card, he posted a strong game last week with ten catches for over 100 yards.
He became even more valuable after wide receiver Chris Godwin was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Many who follow Buccaneers football thought of Brown as the second option in the passing game after three time Pro Bowler Mike Evans. So now you have the backstory. What happened next may surprise you.
The Current Story
This Sunday during the game between the Buccaneers and Jets, Antonio Brown was having just a pedestrian game. This is the scene that led up to a sideline conversation between him and head coach Bruce Arians. Though Arians has refused to speak about the contents of this conversation, Brown alleges that he told his coach that his ankle was significantly bothering him to the extent that he could not continue playing. At this point, Brown says his coach told him he was no longer with the team. This is when Brown decided to remove his pads and jersey before making his way off the field. Before finally exiting to the tunnel, he stopped to remove more articles of clothing that he threw into the stands before appearing to celebrate, doing a series of jumping jacks and waving goodbye to members of the audience that gestured incredulously back to him.
In the postgame conference, both Tom Brady and Bruce Arians tried to deflect attention from Brown’s actions and instead talk about a quality team win and the guys in uniform who stayed to finish the game. Arians did say that “he is no longer a Buc” of Antonio Brown. A 16 second video is circulating on YouTube that shows Mike Evans trying to stop Brown from abandoning ship – so to speak.
Since then, the Buccaneers as an organization have been surprisingly quiet and, as of late January 5th, have taken no action on the situation. They have not even placed Antonio Brown on waivers. Some reports say this is gamesmanship designed to keep any potential playoff competitor from signing him. In the meantime, Brown has hired a lawyer and released a lengthy statement doubling down on his claim that he was hampered by an ankle injury. The report points to an MRI conducted on his ankle this Monday that reveals torn cartilage and broken bone fragments in his ankle. The injuries are serious enough to impel him to opt for surgery. The statement ends with his vow to be back and contribute as a member of an NFL team. “Business will be booming” are his final words right now. It’s also an of-used tag phrase on his personal Instagram page.
Brown’s public statement as released through his lawyer takes on a darker and more ominous tone when he accuses the Buccaneers of “a cover-up” and of attempting to coerce him to play through an injury. He was apparently given shots pre-game to minimize and mask symptoms of torn ligaments, broken bone fragments and, cartilage loss, according to Jenna Laine of ESPN.
His statement goes on to say that the NFL Player’s Association has found that shots of this nature contribute to long-term damage to a player’s health. Brown further calls out the Buccaneers for trying to paint Sunday’s events in the Meadowlands as Brown having a personal mental health crisis. Even in the postgame press conference, Brady did indeed refer to wanting the best for Brown, including helping him in any way he needs. Brown’s statement, however, pushed back on any mental situation being a player.
During the time after and since Sunday’s game against the Jets, most of the online fervor had a suspicious tone regarding a possible ankle injury. Many fans point out that Brown was running and jumping around the end zone immediately before his tunnel exit. He did not appear to be favoring one ankle over another. The contents of Brown’s statement certainly shed a different light on the controversy. The injections Brown asserts he received may have temporarily masked any symptoms he might feel from an injured ankle.
The Upcoming Chapters
Will the 26 plays he was in for during Sunday’s game be the last logged in for Brown’s overall illustrious career? Though it’s beyond the pale of likelihood to imagine Brown returning in another iteration of the Tampa Bay uniform he threw aside in East Rutherford, New Jersey, it is certainly possible that he may sign with a different team during the offseason.
During his time with Tampa Bay, Brown proved that he can still be a contributing member of a team that can climb to the pinnacle of single-season greatness. As much as he might hate to have anything in common with the team he railed against in his statement, both Antonio Brown and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a few more chapters to write. We have to only wait and see what future they will face. We do know that the Bucs will contend in this season’s playoffs with one less target for Tom Brady.
In the early morning hours of Thursday January 6th, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers released Antonio Brown from their roster.