The whole Antonio Brown scenario took the world of football by storm. It was a crazy day when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went up against the New York Jets. And during the third quarter of the game, when the Bucs were down 10-24, wide receiver Brown decided to surprise everyone by marching out of the stadium bare-chested.
The veteran receiver was harshly criticized for his move and was even greatly trolled for his controversial past. However, within the past few days, the story has only escalated and has revealed new sides. But much of it was already hinted at by the star quarterback Tom Brady since day one.
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Later it turned out that the wideout was still struggling with his ankle injury, which he had picked up during the Week 6 matchup this season. However, he was “forced” to enter the game by coach Bruce Arians despite difficulties in making plays. Furthermore, according to a recent report, the receiver also complained about not getting enough targets despite being open in the field.
With all that happening during the game, Brown decided not to enter the game after having a word with assistant coaches. However, Arians had no clue about it. And when he said the same to Bruce Arians, the receiver was told to get out of the game. And the rest is history.
Bruce Arians on Antonio Brown
Recently during a press conference at Tampa Bay, coach Arians broke his silence. He decided to go public and tell the fans what really went down on the field that day and why was he decided to let go of Brown once and for all.
“Obviously, we let Antonio go today. Just to clear you up on some things that happened, at no point in time during that game did he ever ask the trainer or doctor about his ankle,” Arians told reporters. “That’s the normal protocol. You go through protocol during games. I was never notified of it. So obviously that was the disturbing thing when we’re looking for him to go back in the game.”
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Bruce Arians explains his sideline convo with Antonio Brown.
“You’re done. Get the F out of here."
(via @Buccaneers) pic.twitter.com/xlimBorA2p
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) January 6, 2022
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“He was very upset at halftime about who was getting targeted. Got that calmed down—players took care of that. It started again on the sideline,” he added. “We had called for the personal group that he had played [with] the entire game, he refused to go in the game. That’s when I look back and saw him basically wave off the coach. I then went back and approached him about what was going on. [He said] ‘I ain’t playing.’ [I said] ‘what’s going on [and he said] ‘I ain’t getting the ball.’ That’s when I said you’re done, get the ‘F’ out of here and that’s the end of it.”
Brown’s departure from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
And just like that, Antonio Brown’s journey with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came to a sudden end. And as the veteran receiver has been erased from the Bucs roster permanently, his place is taken by the rising star Cyril Grayson Jr., who scored the winning touchdown against the Jets, Sunday.
However, this whole saga reveals a part of the sport which no professional, except some, like to talk about. The part where the athletes are not treated as humans but rather robots making plays on the field. Recently in a podcast, Tom Brady opened up about how it has affected the receiver in a gruesome way, and it should be known to the rest of the world.
Watch Story: WATCH: Tom Brady Opens Up on Mental Health After Antonio Brown’s Recent Outburst