Antonio Brown Blames Tom Brady for NFL Exit
Antonio Brown is speaking out on his final NFL game. At the end of the 2021 season, the star wide receiver stormed off the field as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were taking on the New York Jets. Tampa Bay was down 14 points to the Jets in the third quarter when Brown decided to take his shirt off and head to the locker room. The Buccaneers released Brown a few days later while Brown said the team forced him to play with an injured ankle. Brown did not play in 2022 and it looks like he won't be playing this season either. He addressed the situation on Tyreek Hill's It Needed To Be Said podcast and said Brady enticed him to play despite the injury.
"Tom called me like 'Yo, this week man, the Jets man, they sweet man imma hit you with like 10 to 12 [targets],'" Brown said, per Sports Illustrated. "So, he gonna gas me up so you know me, that's all I need to hear, like yo, you gonna throw me the ball."
Antonio Brown just tossed his uniform and equipment into the crowd and left the game
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 2, 2022
(via @NFLonFOX)pic.twitter.com/akW5Csa04l
Brown also talked about how he told then-head coach Bruce Arians about the injury. "We about to play the Jets, and this week I am really hurt," he said. "So I'm taking pictures to the coach like 'If we're going to win the Super Bowl, I'm going to need to take these last two weeks [of the regular season] at least recover up so I can give you my best; we here to win the Super Bowl,' so the coach, [Bruce Arians], was like 'Hey man, we ain't resting.'"
Brown played with Brady for nearly two seasons in Tampa and one game when they were both with the New England Patriots. The Super Bowl champion wide receiver said he and Brady had a "football relationship" as they didn't have much in common besides the sport.
"Tom called me like 'Yo, this week man, the Jets man, they sweet man imma hit you with like 10 to 12 [targets],'" Brown said. "So, he gonna gas me up so you know me, that's all I need to hear, like yo, you gonna throw me the ball." Brown finished his final NFL game with three receptions for 26 yards on five targets.