Like him or not, Antonio Brown is undoubtedly one of the most talented wide receivers of this generation. Brown made it to seven pro bowls and won one Super Bowl as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After some off-the-field issues, Brown and the Steelers agreed to part ways. 

Brown then became a member of the then-Oakland Raiders. The Raiders quickly made Antonio Brown the highest paid receiver in football with a three year, 50 million dollar contract. Unfortunately, Brown created more off the field issues and was released by the Raiders. He was then signed by the Patriots, but was released after one game due to sexual assault allegations. 

This brings us to the beginning of 2020, where Antonio Brown signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers partway through their Super Bowl winning season. Having a good relationship with quarterback Tom Brady, and no off the field issues during the superbowl run, Brown was seemingly back to normal. However, this would change during the 2021-22 season. 

The season started off fine with no mention of Brown in the news. However, recently Brown was caught supplying the NFL with a fake vaccination card and was given a three game suspension. Many thought that this would be the end of Brown’s career as a Buc, as Coach Bruce Arians said that, “He screws up one time, he’s gone.”

Due to Brown’s importance to the team, Arians did not stay true to his word, and Brown remained a member of the Bucs up until a crazy situation in their week 17 game versus the New York Jets. Midway through the game, Brown stripped off all his equipment, taunted the crowd, and left the field. No one knew why he did it at the time, but in the days following the incident many stories came out. 

Brown’s argument is essentially that the Buccaneers organization knew that he was hurt and still made him play. He also said that he was very close to getting the incentives in his contract so the team benched him to save money. However, many people find it difficult to believe Brown’s allegations due to his troubling history. 

Coach Bruce Arians sat in a press conference after the team cut Brown and said, “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.” People throughout the NFL and the sports world are conflicted on who to believe in this situation. The NFL will continue to investigate whether Brown was mistreated by the Bucs, and hopefully they can figure out what really happened.