Antonio Brown’s time since his breakout tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the start of his career has been hectic. He is now team-less once again, after seemingly quitting from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers mid-game on Sunday (Jan. 2).
After AB demanded a trade from the Steelers in Spring 2019, he landed on the Oakland Raiders, where his antics had him released by the beginning of the next season. After that stint, he was given another chance by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the same week. But, he would not last long, being released by New England two weeks later in September 2019.
Teams were avoiding AB due to sexual assault allegations that were being levied against him. However, the next team to give Brown a chance was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady’s new team in 2020. The signing got the stamp of approval by Bucs head coach Bruce Arians, and the team went on to win the Super Bowl with AB in February.
But, 2021 would be a different story. Since the beginning of this season, AB has been nothing but drama for Tampa Bay. First, he was kicked out of a practice for throwing a punch at a player in August. Next, he earned a three-game suspension after his former private chef revealed he was using a fake vaccination card to avoid protocols. That same chef would later attempt to sue Brown for $10,000 for unpaid wages, but would soon reconcile with AB.
However, Arians seemed to have soured on AB due to the vax card situation. And, even knowing he was on thin ice with the organization, Antonio put the nail in his Bucs career coffin today (Jan. 2), when he stormed off the field and took his jersey off in defiance.
While it is not clear why he made this dramatic exit, that was enough for Arians to pull the plug on the AB experiment. Directly after the Bucs pulled off the last-second 28-24 victory over the New York Jets, Bruce Arians seemingly released Brown in the post-game presser: “(AB) is no longer a Buc.”
In response to his departure from the team, Antonio Brown took to Twitter to troll about how he is a “super gremlin.”
AB ultimately is a drama magnet, and loves being the center of attention. It remains to be seen if this was the last straw for NFL teams, and if we have seen the end of AB as a professional football player.