ANTONIO BROWN RELEASED BY THE BUCS FOLLOWING BIZARRE INCIDENT AT METLIFE STADIUM
In what was easily the most chaotic moment of week 17 in the NFL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown took off his shirt and shoulder pads during his team’s game against the Jets, tossed his undershirt and gloves into the MetLife Stadium crowd, and ran off the field.
The 11-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers were visiting the 4-11 New York Jets in what many would have expected to be a dull affair in a Jets blowout by the Super Bowl champions. The game turned out to be a superb showing by Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson who went toe to toe with Tom Brady requiring the veteran QB to pull off an incredible 93-yard drive with 2 minutes and 12 seconds left to win it 28-24. But that wasn’t the biggest headline of the game. That came prior to the fourth quarter.
With 3 minutes left to play in the third quarter, Antonio Brown was out of the game and on the Bucs sideline. This was understandable as he and fellow wide receiver Mike Evans were on snap counts because they were not entirely healthy. Brown appeared enraged and Evans and tight end O.J Howard were seen coming over trying to calm him down. AB was hearing none of it as he ignored them, went ahead and removed his shoulder pads and shirt, tossed them on the bench, tossed his undershirt and gloves into the crowd, and ran into the locker room.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Bucs coaches clashed with Antonio Brown on how healthy he was while asking him to go into the game and told him to leave. Speaking on Monday’s episode of GMFB, Ian Rapoport said, “Midway through the game yesterday, Bruce Arians and the offensive staff told Antonio Brown to go into the game. They believed that he was healthy. Antonio Brown did not believe that he was healthy. He had been battling an ankle injury for the last several weeks. Did not practice Thursday. Did not practice Friday and personally had some doubts whether or not he would be able to be out there and play.”
“What he told the staff from what I understand is that he was not going into the game because, in his mind, he did not feel he was healthy. The response then from the offensive coaches and Bruce Arians was, ‘if you are not going to go into the game when we tell you to go into the game then you cannot be here’. At that point, they threw him off the sidelines and then cut him from the team.”
Scenes online were absolutely insane as social media went into a frenzy while watching everything unfold with reactions coming in from NFL fans, current and former players, reporters, and analysts alike as everyone tried to come up with theories on why the former Pittsburgh Steelers wideout was so incensed as to warrant his reaction.
According to Spotrac, Antonio Brown needed just 8 more catches to unlock a $333,333 bonus. He also needed 55 receiving yards to unlock another $333,333 and one more receiving touchdown to unlock a further $333,333. His outburst cost him a million dollars in performance bonuses.
At this point the game was not going according to plan (the Bucs’ plan that is). Tampa was losing to a team they expected to beat (New York was leading 24-10 at the time) and with real conflicts happening between player and coaching, decisions were made that could not be taken back.
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians spoke to the media after the game regarding the Antonio Brown situation and said, “He is no longer a Buc. Alright. That’s the end of the story. Let’s talk about the guys that went out there and won the game.”
According to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, Tom Brady wasn’t aware of the incident while it was happening and only found out after the game. Brady vouched for Antonio Brown last season and was a big part of bringing Brown to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to boost their wide receiver room. Tom played with AB in New England in Brown’s short stint there before he was released by the Patriots and the two have lived together both in New England and Tampa Bay.
With everyone assuming that Brady would be infuriated after Brown walked off, the 44-year old was surprisingly calm and compassionate regarding the incident saying, “Yeah. Obviously a difficult situation. Everybody should find…hopefully do what they can to help in ways that he really needs. We all love him. We care about him deeply. We want to see him be at his best but unfortunately, it won’t be with our team.”
“We have a lot of friendships that will last and I think the most important thing about football are the relationships. Your friends and your teammates. They go beyond the field. I think everyone should be very compassionate and empathetic toward, you know, some very difficult things that are happening.”
As per ESPN’s Jenna Laine, security thought Antonio Brown was a fan that had jumped on the field until they noticed he was a player. Brown asked state troopers in the tunnel if they could drive him to the airport. They said “No”.
This is not the first time Antonio Brown has hit the headlines. As far as most NFL fans can remember, Antonio Brown has always had “incidents”. Back in Pittsburgh, Brown had a few moments where he wouldn’t go to practice and where he was on the sidelines dressed in fur and taking selfies with fans in the bathroom. He’s also burnt his feet in a cryochamber while with the Oakland Raiders, had a helmet controversy, and most recently used a fake vaccine card to prove his vaccination. The bigger incidents, however, have led to lawsuits and suspensions.
Brown settled a sexual assault lawsuit filed against him by his former trainer in April 2021, a lawsuit that earned him an eight-game suspension in the 2020 season for multiple violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Investigation into allegations by the NFL revealed that Brown had sent intimidating text messages to Britney Taylor, his former trainer, who alleged that Brown had made unwanted sexual advances toward her. Brown also allegedly assaulted a delivery truck driver and had pleaded no contest to a felony burglary with battery charge and two lesser misdemeanor charges relating to an incident that took place outside his home in Hollywood, Florida in January 2020.
Brown leaving the MetLife in East Rutherford, New Jersey like that was always going to be a bizarre occurrence but it is a unique one and has led most people to question the mental health of one of the most incredible talents at wide receiver in the history of the NFL.
As the outbursts continue to pile up, one can’t help but to think back to that Vontaze Burfict hit on the seven-time Pro Bowler in the Cincinnati Bengals 18-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on wild card weekend in 2016. With 22 seconds left to play and the Steelers trailing 16-15, linebacker Vontaze Burfict delivered a blow on the helmet of Antonio Brown, knocking him unconscious. Brown walked off the field on that cold January 9th night in Ohio and has since downplayed allegations that the hit changed him and has insisted that he is okay.
However you view Sunday’s spectacle, whether it was yet another chapter in the book of a troubled individual, or a public cry for help from someone in mental duress, it seems highly probable that we’ve seen Brown take the last snap of his NFL career.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero