Former NFL Defender Warren Sapp Says Antonio Brown Is ‘Sick’

With wide receiver Antonio Brown frequently being in the news over the past eight months, there have been many questions about his mental state. Is there something going on of which the rest of the world isn’t aware? Former NFL defender Warren Sapp has an answer to this question; he believes Brown is sick but not in the traditional sense.

During a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Sapp sat down with host Rich Eisen to discuss the drama surrounding Brown, as well as the claims by agent Drew Rosenhaus that many NFL teams are interested in the recently-released receiver. In this conversation, he said that Brown has a sickness based on his prolific tweets.

“He’s sick,” Sapp said. “He’s sick. The social media has grabbed this young man and it’s feeding him.”

“This young man has a drug in his [system]. It’s social media. Because I never thought a player would pick a phone up in the locker room and record because there’s a bunch of naked men in this locker room. That’s the last thing you want to be doing. I mean, that’s the first thing you think about because of somebody’s privacy in the locker room. And the last thing you want to do is beam this out to the world.”

For context, the incident with grabbing phones in the locker room dates back to January 2017 when Brown streamed live video from the Steelers locker room following a Divisional Round victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. This video, which was posted on Facebook before being ultimately taken down, captured a private speech by head coach Mike Tomlin in which he referred to the New England Patriots as “a—” and captured many team members in various states of undress.

This incident with the locker room phone was one of many that ultimately led to Brown’s trade to the Oakland Raiders and it shows, in Sapp’s opinion, that Brown truly has a sickness. He’s addicted to social media. He also believes that the video of Brown running in the backyard after his release from the Raiders is just another example.

Since those events, Brown has been a mainstay on social media, posting his thoughts many times throughout the day in a series of photos and videos. Some posts have not been received quite as well, such as the comments lobbed toward Ben Roethlisberger and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, while others showed a unique look into his home life. Either way, Brown has been cranking out content at a rapid pace.

Sapp finished his explanation by saying that Brown is unlikely to ever play in the NFL again unless he makes some changes. This is a team sport, but Sapp believes that these incidents show that Brown is only concerned about himself. This could change in the future if those around the receiver help guide him in the right direction, but Sapp does not see this happening.

“He’s crossed that line and went on the run. Now he’s skidding and sliding all the way down.”