Shortly after the Buccaneers signed Antonio Brown, Bruce Arians insisted he would have a zero-tolerance policy on the wide receiver’s missteps.
That proved not to be the case.
The NFL issued Brown a three-game suspension for submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. Given Arians’ aforementioned remark, some thought the senseless act would spell the end of AB’s time in Tampa Bay. But the reigning Super Bowl champions welcomed Brown back once his punishment was over, and he returned to the field Sunday in Tampa Bay’s win over the Carolina Panthers.
Arians didn’t offer much to the media about his flip-flop on Brown leading up to the Week 16 game. The Bucs coach finally provided some details on the situation in a conversation with NBC Sports’ Peter King on Sunday.
“When you and I talked last year, we were talking on old experiences with Antonio,” Arians told King. “When he came back to us, he was a model citizen. There was a new history. I really loved the way he tried to fit in, worked his way in and gave us everything he had to go to the Super Bowl. My whole attitude on him changed. I saw him trying to be a better human being. So I’ve got a totally different relationship than when it was when you and I talked last year.”
Brown himself wasn’t interested in addressing the matter after Sunday’s game, despite the fact that the media has yet to speak with him since everything went down. The troubled wideout shut down questions about his suspension and return to the team while accusing reporters of being “all about drama.”
