Antonio Brown no longer is a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to head coach Bruce Arians.
Brown left the Buccaneers sideline Sunday during the third quarter against the New York Jets, throwing a tantrum while taking off his shoulder pads, jersey, undershirt and gloves. He threw the shirt and gloves into the stands at MetLife Stadium before his shirtless exit to the tunnel.
Arians quickly addressed the situation in his postgame press conference.
“He is no longer a Buc, alright?,” Arians said, per the team. “That’s the end of the story. Let’s talk about the guys that went out there and won the game.”
The bizarre incident took place with the Buccaneers trailing the Jets 24-10 before mounting a comeback en route to a 27-24 win. Brown, prior to his exit, saw five targets from quarterback Tom Brady and turned them into three catches for 26 yards.
“Yeah, that’s obviously a difficult situation,” Brady said when asked about Brown after the game. “I think we all want him to just, I think everybody should find, do what they can to help him in ways that he really needs it. We all love him. We care about him deeply. We want to see him be at his best and unfortunately it won’t be with our team.”
Sunday’s incident clearly served as the final straw for Arians and the team. After all, the head coach came out less than a week ago and shared how he was changing his stance on Brown.
“When you and I talked last year, we were talking on old experiences with Antonio,” Arians told NBC Sports’ Peter King. “When he came back to us, he was a model citizen.”
Those comments came after Brown was suspended by the NFL after his fake vaccination card was discovered to be true. That development came about from Brown’s personal chef, who he failed to pay for his services.
Brown now has been released by each of the last three teams he suited up for. The New England Patriots released Brown after less than two weeks, and that came after the Las Vegas Raiders released Brown, as well.
Brown won a Super Bowl with Brady and the Buccaneers in 2020, but his tenure ended rather familiarly.
