When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Antonio Brown last season, coach Bruce Arians said the erratic wide receiver was down to his last strike.
“He screws up one time, he’s gone,” Arians said.
Arians didn’t end up abiding by his declaration after Brown was suspended three games by the NFL in early December for submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. But Brown’s meltdown on Sunday was the straw that broke Arians’ back, as well as potentially strike three for Brown’s NFL career.
In the third quarter, with Tampa Bay trailing the Jets, Brown took off his pads and uniform, threw his gloves and undershirt into the stands and jogged shirtless off the field while waving to fans. Brown wasn’t ejected by the officials, and it wasn’t clear as of Sunday evening what led to the incident.
After the game, Arians confirmed what everyone was expecting when Brown’s actions went viral online: “He is no longer a Buc.”
“I’m not talking about him,” Arians said at his press conference following the 28-24 victory. “He’s not a part of the Bucs.”
According to Fox’s Jay Glazer, Arians was attempting to get Brown into the game twice but the wideout refused each time. Arians then told Brown to leave.
“Never seen anything like it in all my years,” Arians said to Glazer.
Video of Antonio Brown leaving the field after taking off his jersey and shirt and throw it into the stands. pic.twitter.com/1hwNYei5Fq
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 2, 2022
Brown, obviously, wasn’t available to the media after the game, and he also did not fly back with the team, according to multiple reports.
Adding a bit of irony to the incident — which was shocking even for Brown’s unpredictable standards — is that the 33-year-old wideout said during a press conference last week that it was the media, not him, that was “all about drama.”
“It’s a lot of drama you guys create,” Brown said after being asked about the team not cutting him after his suspension. “… All I can do is get up every day, be the best person I can be and when I get a chance to do my job, do my job the best way I can do it.”
Per the broadcast on CBS, some Buccaneers teammates, including wide receiver Mike Evans, appeared to try to calm Brown. At the time of the tantrum, Tampa Bay was trailing 24-10 in the third quarter, and Brown had three catches for 26 yards on five targets.
A sideline report on the broadcast later stated that stadium security nearly mistook Brown for a fan — and was preparing to tackle him — when he was jumping and waving while shirtless in the end zone.
Here’s a sideline view of what happened with Antonio Brown. Looks like Mike Evans was trying to calm him down but nothing was going to help. AB took everything off and left.
(video via @mmmmillah)pic.twitter.com/sMii14O7bh
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 2, 2022
Making the outburst even more perplexing is what it could cost Brown financially. Despite missing three games with a suspension and a few others with an ankle injury, Brown had a chance to make more than $1 million in incentives in the final two games of the season.
Brown, who lost about $300,000 due to his suspension, was close to unlocking three different bonuses — 55 more receiving yards, eight more catches and one more touchdown — each of which would have netted him $333,333.
Brown’s antics Sunday were the latest in a litany of absurd actions from a player who was once the undisputed best wide receiver in football, when he averaged 114 catches, 1,524 yards and 11 touchdowns per season from 2013 to 2018 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the last three years, Brown has been traded once, suspended twice, cut three times (counting his expected release Monday), arrested for burglary and battery and sued for sexual assault.
After he was cut by New England due to sexual assault allegations in 2019 — when then-Patriots quarterback Tom Brady played with him for one game following his release by the Raiders — some wondered if that would be the end of Brown’s career. But Brady lobbied Arians and the Buccaneers organization last season to sign the embattled wide receiver, and Brown was productive for the Super Bowl champions after serving his eight-game suspension to open the season.
Brady has reportedly allowed Brown to live in his home multiple times, and he even said earlier this season that the wideout had “become like a brother to me.”
“To see where he was at and where he‘s at now makes me so happy for him,” Brady said in October. “He’s put the work in. We’re all challenged in different ways on and off the field. Sometimes football comes really easy, but the successes of football become a little more challenging to deal with. He’s really done an amazing job in his own life getting back to what the real purpose of it is.”
Brady, who threw a 33-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining to win the game, said afterward that Brown’s fiasco was a “difficult situation.”
“We all love him. We care about him deeply, and we want to see him be at his best. Unfortunately, it won’t be with our team,” Brady said. “ … I think everyone should be very compassionate and empathetic toward some very difficult things that are happening.”
