Antonio Brown’s exit from the NFL came quickly and largely unexpectedly. Although he seemed destined for a memorable start at times, no one could have imagined Brown removing his jersey and shoulder pads and leaving the field during the game.
The idea that Brown quit was quickly offset by the fact that former Bucs coach Bruce Arians finally told Brown to leave. Regardless, Brown’s final act in the NFL was to run from the Tampa Bay sideline to the locker room on January 2, 2022.
He continues to make periodic headlines, but none for NFL football or anything close to it. (The latest AB story comes from the arena league team he owns being kicked out of the league.) Brown recently appeared on Tyreek Hill’s podcast, It had to be saidfor a long and revealing discussion on various topics.
During the episode, Brown airs various grievances regarding the Buccaneers from his second and final season with the team. He suggests, for example, that the team tried to bring him to the facility during his four-game suspension for having a falsified COVID vaccine card. Beyond the shuddering suggestion that the Bucs actually wanted him to show up at the training center while on suspension, he refused to do so because he wasn’t being paid.
He seems to think the Bucs at the time were there to get him, to scare him off despite Brown having a torn ankle ligament that prevented him from planting his foot and cutting himself.
Brown also complains about Tom Brady’s TB12 guru, Alex Guerrero, in various ways. “He’s not a doctor, he doesn’t read MRIs,” Brown says of Guerrero. “So like he’s digging into my shit, like he thinks he (will) make me want to play. But my ligament got torn. I can’t really play at all.
Brown says this led to internal conflict between Brown and Guerrero and the team’s coach. Brown explains that he played against the Panthers after missing seven straight games even though he knew he shouldn’t, but still gained over a hundred yards against Carolina.
Brown also says that Brady began telling Brown during the 2021 season that he was a “narcissist”, with Brown believing that Brady was no longer trying to “support” Brown but to “control” him.
Brown explains that after the Panthers game, he tried to persuade the coaching staff to let him rest before the playoffs. He was told there would be no rest, especially with so many injuries at receiver. Then came a call from Brady encouraging Brown to face the Jets, telling Brown he would throw the ball to him during that game.
It helped Brown choose to do it (having incentives he was trying to reach helped, though Brown doesn’t mention them in the Hill podcast), along with another Toradol shot, something Brown says got him gave “Batman energy” to play when he knew he was hurt.
But Brown points out that he still felt “bad energy” from the situation, with mixed messages from the team and from Brady and from Guerrero, who (per Brown) didn’t want to coach Brown after Brown leaned on more. team coaches. than Guerrero.
Brown says he paid Guerrero (and, indirectly, Brady) $100,000 to work with Brown during the season. “These boys like to skin me and they’re supposed to be the guys who have my back,” Brown claims. “You know you don’t charge guys, they’re your guys. Because we want you to look your best. The fact that you are the best helps me. So these guys put me in charge of working with me, and it’s like the team is paying this guy to like working with the players. I pay him on top of the (team) payment and he doesn’t even do his best.
Brown then became frustrated during the Jets game. He says he was hurt, he was worried the injury would get worse, he wasn’t getting the ball (despite Brady’s pre-game promises).
“(Guerrero) won’t work with me, I’m paying him, (Brady) won’t throw the ball at me, and you make me look crazy,” Brown said. “So am I crazy? Fuck you all motherfuckers, I’m leaving.
One last point, until I’m out of here (until next post). The episode description suggests that Brown explains “why Tom Brady really hasn’t retired”. I listened to the whole thing, curious to hear Brown’s point of view. If he explains why Brady didn’t retire at the start of 2022, I totally missed it.
If anyone heard anything about why Brady really didn’t retire, let me know at florio@profootballtalk.com.
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