Opinion: Farewell, Antonio Brown. With explosive exit, ex-Buccaneers WR has finally worn out his welcome in NFL.
Here we go again. For the last time.
Antonio Brown did what?
Sure, there’s a strong chance that the combustible Brown will someday make news again for another dramatic episode. But Brown’s last straw has officially snapped in half.
“He is no longer a Buc,” Tampa Bay’s coach, Bruce Arians, said in hammering home the final nail on Brown’s NFL career. “That’s the end of the story.”
And what a sad story it is, as the immensely talented Brown has done himself in again – for the final stanza of his volatile NFL career.
Just think: There were people, probably many people, who thought the often-relatable Arians was off his rocker for welcoming Brown back in the fold two weeks ago following the three-game suspension levied for the despicable act of turning in a forged COVID-19 vaccination card that allowed him to play much of the season before getting busted.
Arians, who said in 2020 upon taking on Brown’s extensive track record for foolishness that he had essentially give the supremely talented receiver one strike, went back on his own word in bringing him back. And now this.
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Brown, miffed while the Bucs trailed by two touchdowns in the third quarter of an eventual 28-24 victory against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, tossed his helmet and jersey aside, then took off his undershirt and threw it in the stands.
And for his final act in the NFL, a shirtless Brown waved to the crowd as he danced off the field and jogged up the tunnel. What a cowardly act. He quit on his team. He quit on Arians, who stuck his neck out repeatedly for Brown. And he quit on Tom Brady, who went to bat for Brown during their brief stint as teammates in New England and did even for him in Tampa.
Brown is done in the NFL. Some players see their careers end with a terrifying injury that gets them carted off the field. Some leave while basking in confetti and the ultimate triumph of winning the Super Bowl. Others see the end coming for months because of a decline in skills.
Yet this extreme for Brown – who pretty much owed the Bucs for letting him slide after he was busted for faking his COVID-19 vaccination record – takes the cake.
Details were sketchy following a chaotic Bucs comeback win ignited by Brady capping a 93-yard drive with a TD toss to Cyril Grayson. Cyril who? A guy eager to take advantage of sudden opportunity lay it on the line when his team, stung by injuries to an array of skilled-position players, needed him the most.
The Bucs survived a scare from the lowly Jets on a day when, as Brady pointed out, they didn’t have a lead for the first 59 minutes, 45 seconds of the game. They won a game when two defensive back starters, Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting, were just activated off the COVID-19 reserve list but didn’t arrive at the stadium until 15 minutes before kickoff because the pilot originally scheduled to fly them from Tampa on a private plane came down with COVID-19 himself. Arians was iffy, too, as the game approached. He was cleared from the COVID-19 list on Saturday…then hobbled around on an Achilles that he said is “50% torn.”
And then Brown adds to all of that.
No, no other NFL team – even one with a depleted cast of wideouts – will be bold enough to roll with Brown. The Bucs were warned. It worked last season, when Brown made clutch plays to help win a Super Bowl. And until Sunday, it appeared that it would work again, especially with Brady supporting Brown. Yet Brown, whose tenure in Pittsburgh ended when he apparently quit on Mike Tomlin and the Steelers when they needed to win the season finale to make the playoffs, has now run out of chances.
The Raiders gave it a shot. The Patriots tried. The Bucs rolled the dice.
Brown has had the proverbial nine lives to repair his reputation and recoup some of the millions he has blown along the way, yet he keeps proving that his character doesn’t match his All-Pro talent.
One of the reports floating about on Sunday was that Brown was miffed when he was benched. A video taken by a fan that circulated on social media captured fellow receiver Mike Evans trying to console Brown before the meltdown escalated to the point of no return.
When Rob Gronkowski was asked about Brown during a postgame interview on Fox, the Bucs tight end contended that he had no details to share because he was busy crashing into 300-pound linemen.
Good perspective, Gronk.
Brady, who you would think would have every reason to vent frustration, added more perspective. The quarterback didn’t publicly bash Brown. He asked for compassion.
He knows. The episodes and events of Brown’s life and career are much deeper than football.
“I think everybody should do what they can to help him in ways that he really needs it,” Brady said. “We all love him and we care about him deeply.”
It’s just that Brown either doesn’t care deeply enough about Brady and Co. or is incapable of caring enough in return. By the time the Bucs got to the locker room after the game, Brown had dressed, left and was seen waiting for a ride. What a shame. What a waste.
We should all have friends like Brady, who has been genuine in supporting a troubled man.
“The most important thing about football is the relationships with your friends and teammates,” Brady said. “They go beyond the field. I think everyone should be very compassionate and empathetic toward some very difficult things that are happening.”
Maybe so. But Arians had no choice but to cut Brown on the spot – or actually, to just let him walk.
Brown essentially cut himself. And as he waved to the crowd on his way out, he was also saying farewell to his NFL career.
Follow Paste BN Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.