As the Buccaneers prepare to face the Packers in the NFC Championship Sunday, they do so without starting wide receiver Antonio Brown. Bucs head coach Bruce Arians announced Friday that Brown will be OUT with a knee injury.
Quarterback Tom Brady forced Arians’ hand to bring Brown onboard after his NFL suspension was lifted midway through the season. Juts as Brady had done with the Patriots last season. That time Brown appeared in just one game before sexual assault allegations ended his time there. Then several other run-ins with police, including domestic incidents and assaulting a moving truck driver, had him suspended half of the 2020 season.
Now Brady will be without Brown when his teams needs him the most. And it’s hard to imagine many are feeling bad for either of them right now.
For many people, and certainly most Raiders fans, the image of Antonio Brown that sticks with them the most was the video of of him getting the phone call from the Raiders granting his request to be released and then running into his backyard screaming in celebration “I’m free!”
For those who would rather not see it again, don’t watch this video.
https://youtu.be/o-gwWVYmW7Y
He put on that disgusting display after forcing himself off his second team in a matter of months.
AB intentionally became a thorn in the side of the Pittsburgh Steelers to get them to trade him. It was the Raiders who would ultimately be the team that took him on in exchange for a third and fifth round pick.
Brown and Derek Carr immediately began posting videos about the two like they were besties from way back. That love affair didn’t last long. Right up until Carr took the field for training camp and Antonio Brown took a hot air balloon ride.
Carr got all of one set of drills with Brown the entirety of camp while Brown was pretending a mysterious foot skin issue was keeping him out, when in reality it was a tantrum over the NFL not allowing him to wear his old helmet anymore.
Long story short, GM Mike Mayock laid down the gauntlet, Brown missed more practices, Mayock fined him, Brown then threatened to punch Mayock in front of the team and soon demanded his release.
Brown’s jubilation at Mayock granting his request to be released would become clear two days later when Brown joined Tom Brady in New England. That didn’t work out, so the first chance Tom Brady had to bring him back to his team, he did. Despite his head coach previously saying he had no interest in adding AB to his team’s locker room.
Well, he has Brown in his locker room now. He just won’t have him on the field Sunday as Brady attempts a return to the Super Bowl against the top seed Green Bay Packers.