Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown, Buccaneers cornerback Mike Edwards, and free agent running back Jonathan Franklin III have each been suspended three games by the NFL for violations of the league’s COVID protocols.
Brown and Edwards are on Tampa Bay’s roster. Franklin last played in the league with the Buccaneers in 2019. He missed the 2020 season with a leg injury and was released by the team in August, 2021.
Per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Brown had been accused by a former live-in chef of obtaining a fake vaccine card.
The NFLPA represented the three players during a joint NFL-NFLPA review into the recent allegations that players misrepresented their vaccination status under the NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 Protocols. That review supported those allegations and found that the three players violated the protocols.
Per Greg Auman and Lindsay Jones of The Athletic, a league source revealed that the vaccination card Brown presented to the NFL in its investigation was issued in a Florida county outside of the Tampa Bay region, which raised suspicion. The cards produced by Edwards and Franklin had the same county and same date as the card provided by Brown.
The NFL and NFLPA said in a joint statement:
“The health and safety of players and personnel is our top priority. The protocols were jointly developed working with our respective experts to ensure that we are practicing and playing football as safely as possible during the ongoing pandemic. The NFL-NFLPA jointly reinforce their commitment and further emphasize the importance of strict adherence to the protocols to protect the well-being of everyone associated with the NFL.”
Sean Burstyn, Brown’s attorney, said this in a statement:
“Mr. Brown is vaccinated and continues to support the vaccine for any person for whom it is appropriate. The NFL made its determination and, instead of going through the drawn out and distracting process of challenging the outcome, Mr. Brown wrapped this up promptly and he will use this time as an opportunity to treat his ankle injury. Mr. Brown will be motivated, well rested, and in the best shape of his life when he returns in Week 16.”
Brown and Edwards would be eligible to return to the team for their game against the Panthers on December 26.
Brown had not played since Week 6 due to injuries, and he also missed the Buccaneers’ Week 3 loss to the Rams due to COVID — one of the few Buccaneers players to have to do so. He had caught 29 passes for 418 yards and four touchdowns in five games and two starts. Edwards had been a rare stalwart in Tampa Bay’s banged-up secondary, allowing 16 catches on 22 targets for 183 yards, 100 yards after the catch, one touchdown, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 72.9.