Antonio Brown Blames Patriots Legend Tom Brady For Shirtless NFL Exit
Antonio Brown continues to insist that Tom Brady is one of the main antagonists of his bizarre, rollercoaster football story.
Brown and Brady's career overlapped only once with the New England Patriots but they reunited for parts of two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The first produced a Super Bowl. The other produced Brown's super bail, ending his eventful NFL career by removing the upper portions of his equipment and leaving the field in the midst of a January 2022 meeting with the New York Jets.
Brown, apparently expressing no remorse over neither his NFL career's conclusion nor the implosion of his indoor football team in Albany, addressed his unusual departure on a recent episode of Vocal Podcast Network's "It Needed to Be Said," a podcast hosted by Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill, blaming Brady for his half-naked exit.
In previous explanations, Brown has cited frustration toward Bruce Arians, claiming the then-Tampa Bay head coach tried to force him to play injured. Brown reiterated those claims but had further disdain for Brady, whom he claims promised him plenty of targets if he partook in the clash with the Jets.
"Tom called me and told me he’d hit me with 10-12, so he gassed me up, and that’s all I needed to hear. But you know as a player, if you're f***king up, but your team needs you then you just suck it up for the game and for the team."
At the time, Tampa Bay was battling the Green Bay Packers for the top seed and sole bye on the NFC playoff bracket. The visit to East Rutherford landed in the penultimate week of the 2021-22 regular season.
At the time of Brown's exit, he had been targeted five times, catching three passes for 26 yards (all but five on a single reception in the second quarter), causing him to lash out and continue to insist that he was too hurt to play. Teammates tried to calm him down to no avail, as Brown removed his upper equipment (flinging some of it into the stands) and bid farewell while a play was in progress.
"You don’t want to throw me the ball and you're making me like I’m crazy," Brown says. "I was like, ‘I’m crazy?" F**k all you motherf**kers, I’m out of here."
Tampa Bay eventually won the game 28-24 on Brady's game-winning touchdown pass to Cyril Grayson with 15 seconds left. Brown was removed from the team almost immediately after the contest. Brown claims Tampa management made their mind up long before that, claiming the team was "being fake" to him. Brown also claimed that Brady called him a "narcissist," and that his continued efforts in Tampa Bay were about "controlling" rather than supporting him.
In addition, Brown also goes after Brady's confidante and polarizing trainer Alex Guerrero. Brown said he was paying six figures to work with the Brady-employed Guerrero, which only increased his frustration when he supposedly wasn't getting the promised targets.
In 16 games of working with Brady, Brown earned 1,084 yards on 91 receptions, including nine scores. That included 56 yards and a touchdown in a single game with the Patriots in 2019, one that ended due to domestic violence allegations against Brown.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
Follow Patriots Country on Twitter and Facebook
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Patriots? Click Here
More Patriots coverage from Sports Illustrated here.
