After being released by the New England Patriots on Friday, Antonio Brown took to social media on Sunday, addressing his issues with the NFL, owners and other players, revealing how he will “not be playing” any further in the league. Though his agent, Drew Rosenhaus intended on getting the 31-year-old another opportunity after reports surfaced Saturday night that multiple teams were interested in Brown, but awaiting updates on his legal situation, Brown put that issue to rest with a tweet.
“Will not be playing in the [NFL] anymore these owners can cancel deals do whatever they want at anytime we will see if the [NFLPA] hold them accountable sad they can just void guarantees anytime going on 40m 2 months will see if they pay up!” Brown wrote in the tweet, which raked in thousands of comments.
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Whether this mindset remains is yet to be determined, Brown has previously mentioned that he could walk away from the NFL whenever he wanted. In an interview with NFL reporter, Jeff Darlington, Brown said he had nothing left to prove and had a lot of money still in the bank. Brown didn’t have to play football if he didn’t want to.
Of course, this conversation took place when Brown was still a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers and was looking for a trade that would send him to a different team and provide even more deposits into his bank account. Now, however, he has been released by two teams in the span of two weeks and has potentially missed out on roughly $40 million in guaranteed money.
Brown will attempt to get his guaranteed money from the Patriots and Raiders, with the help of the NFLPA, but that doesn’t mean that he will be successful. Both teams reportedly had language in Brown’s contract that said they could void the money for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Both teams felt that Brown’s behavior fit the bill and used it to avoid paying the guaranteed money.
At this point, Brown says that he is done with the NFL, but that could certainly change in the coming months. If his attempt to recoup the lost millions ultimately fails, will he need to find another opportunity to get his influx of cash, or is his bank account as flush as he previously stated?
Brown may say that he is done with professional football, but he will continue to dominate headlines for the coming weeks.