A Complete Timeline of Antonio Brown’s Fall From NFL Glory
The Bucs were trailing the Jets when a visibly upset Brown launched into a tantrum on the sidelines. How did AB's star fall so far from his Pittsburgh days?
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - JANUARY 02: Antonio Brown #81 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks on against the New York Jets during the game at MetLife Stadium on January 02, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Antonio Brown’s past four years have been tumultuous and dramatic, to say the least. As soon as you think AB has moved beyond it, another crazy story about the troubled wide receiver pops up on your Twitter feed.
The latest installment: Brown’s meltdown during the Bucs’ come-from-behind win against the Jets Sunday.
In the third quarter, the Bucs were surprisingly trailing the lowly Jets 24-10 when a visibly upset Brown launched into a tantrum on the sidelines. He removed his shoulder pads, threw his jersey, shirt, and gloves into the stands, and walked off the field.
Talk about drama.
Given the look-at-me antics, it wasn’t too surprising when, following the game, Tampa coach Bruce Arians declared Brown was “no longer a Buc.” Bye bye, Antonio.
With Brown apparently a free agent once again, let’s track his fall from grace—it’s been a long fall, indeed, since his glory years with the Steelers.
Brown Asks for Trade
Hello, Oakland
Beefs With Former Teammates
I Want My Helmet!
Raiders Fine Brown, Leading to Confrontation
Raiders Release Brown, Who Signs With Patriots
Lawsuits Allege Instances of Sexual Assault
Agent Terminates Agreement
Brown Suspended Eight Weeks
Brown Joins Buccaneers
Brown Wins First Super Bowl
Brown Re-signs with Bucs
Suspension for Fake Vax Card
Tampa Bay Era Ends
January 2022
Brown returned in Week 16 against Carolina and immediately proved he’s still one of the league’s elite wide outs, hauling in 10 passes for 101 yards.
But the positive emotions didn’t last long.
The next week marked Tampa’s scrappy battle with the Jets.
So, what led to Brown’s meltdown? As Arians shared in an interview with Jay Glazer, he told Brown to go into the game and Brown twice refused. After the second refusal, Arians told him to leave.
The tenured coach said, “never seen anything like (Brown’s jersey-tossing meltdown) in all my years.” TB12 was asked about Brown after the game and stated: “We all love him, we care about him deeply, we wanna see him be at his best, unfortunately it won’t be with our team.”
The episode didn’t seem to stop Brown from living his best life. Not only did he drop a new song Sunday, one night after the incident at MetLife Stadium, Brown was spotted sitting courtisde at Barclays Center to take in the Nets-Grizzlies game.
Four days after the bizarre incident, and after Brown took to social media to claim that Tampa Bay ignored a serious ankle injury he was battling and that was the reason he refused to go into the game, the Buccaneers officially cut Brown. Arians explained his version of the events in a rare Thursday appearance before the media:
