We have an absolute mess in Tampa Bay.
Obviously there was a lot more under the surface of Antonio Brown ripping his shirt off and storming across the field to exit a Week 17 matchup with the New York Jets mid-game. Bruce Arians reportedly asked Brown to get in the game, the receiver refuted, and Arians told him to leave.
The Bucs head coach told media Brown was off the team after that game, and ensuing reports about Brown playing on an ankle injury were hard to believe with Arians kind of ensuing otherwise.
As part of a long statement released through his lawyer Wednesday night, Brown alleges not only that Arians and the Bucs knew about his ankle pain, but that the team now is trying to "spin" the narrative -- claiming they tried to make him play hurt. Brown said he's since gotten his own MRI from a top orthopedic surgeon revealing a bit of damage.
Here some excerpts from Brown's statement, via ESPN's Adam Schefter:
I didn't quit. I was cut. I didn't walk away from my brothers. I was thrown out. Being fired on the sideline for having a painful injury was bad enough. Then came their "spin." Coach denied on national television that he knew about my ankle. That's 100% inaccurate. Not only did he know I missed several games with the injury, he and I exchanged texts days before the game where he clearly acknowledged my injury. He obviously knew I was on the injury list. And the GM acknowledged after the game in text messages to my camp that I didn't tell coach about my ankle pain on Sunday. ...
As part of their ongoing cover-up, they are acting like I wasn't cut and now demanding that I see a doctor of their choice to examine my ankle. what they did not know until now is that on Monday morning I had an urgent MRI on my ankle. It shows broken bone gradients stuck in my ankle, the ligament torn from the bone, and cartilage loss, which are beyond painful. You can see the bone bulging from the outside. But that must and can be repaired. The MRI has been ready by two top orthopedic surgeons in NYC, including Dr. Martin O'Malley at Hospital for Special Surgery. Not realizing that I had already scheduled a surgery at HSS, the Bucs "ordered" me under penalty of discipline and with a few hours' notice to show up to a more junior doctor at HSS for another opinion. What a joke. They're playing like I wasn't cut, giving me a surprise attack "order" to show up to another doctor with no reasonable notice, and setting this whole thing up as a basis to cut me because what they did on Sunday was not legitimate. Sorry, GM. I already received a confirming opinion from the Top Doc at the hospital you "ordered" me to go to.
I love the Bucs fans. I really do. I love my teammates and everyone who showed me grace and believed in me. I gave the Bucs everything I had on the field. What the organization is doing now needs to get cleaned up. I do not understand how people publicly claiming to be concerned about my mental health can do these things to me in private.
Once my surgery is complete I'll be back to 100% and looking forward to next season. Business gonna be BOOMIN!
Brown essentially confirms he's shut down for the season, and the Buccaneers will go on without him.
