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?

Antonio Brown Tampa Bay New York 2022
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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 Tampa Bay New York 2022

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

Antonio Brown Steelers Lions 2018

Hello, Oakland

Antonio Brown stretches prior to a preseason game against Arizona.

Beefs With Former Teammates

Antonio Brown JuJu Smith-Schuster Steelers 2018

I Want My Helmet!

Antonio Brown Raiders Helmet 2019

Raiders Fine Brown, Leading to Confrontation

Antonio Brown Derek Carr Raiders Cardinals 2019

Raiders Release Brown, Who Signs With Patriots

Antonio Brown Patriots Dolphins 2019

Lawsuits Allege Instances of Sexual Assault

NFL wide reciever Antonio Brown

Agent Terminates Agreement

Antonio brown

Brown Suspended Eight Weeks

antonio brown

Brown Joins Buccaneers

Antonio Brown Buccaneers Patriots 2021

Brown Wins First Super Bowl

Antonio Brown Super Bowl 2021

Brown Re-signs with Bucs

Antonio Brown Pregame Super Bowl 2021

Suspension for Fake Vax Card

Antonio Brown Training Camp 2021

Tampa Bay Era Ends

Antonio Brown Jets Bucs Pregame 2022

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: 

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