Antonio Brown released: WR breaks silence on leaving Bucs, accuses team of cover-up regarding injured ankle

Antonio Brown has broken his silence, to say the very least. In a lengthy statement through his attorney Sean Burstyn, the veteran wide receiver explained his side of the situation that unfolded on Sunday where he departed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sideline in the midst of their matchup against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. 

Brown is alleging that the Buccaneers, who released him on Thursday, are engaging an ongoing “cover-up” surrounding his injured ankle. He noted in the statement that an MRI on his ankle revealed “broken bone fragments stuck in my ankle, the ligament torn from the bone, and cartilage loss, which are beyond painful.” He is also set to undergo surgery on that ankle. 

Prior reports highlighted this injury as the main catalyst for Brown’s outburst on the sideline and subsequent departure from the team in the middle of the game. Brown reportedly got into a spat with head coach Bruce Arians as he tried to get him into the game he the receiver refused. Once he refused to enter the game upon another request from Arians, the coach is said to have told him to “get out.” 

Brown highlighted this situation in his full statement via his attorney, which you can read in its entirety below: 

First of all, I’d like to express my gratitude to the Bucs, fans, and my teammates. The Bucs helped me return to productive football after I had difficulties that could have ended my career. We worked together to resolve those difficulties, and I will always appreciate that. Being part of a Super Bowl champion team and then a contender is a dream come true. 

I make mistakes. I’m working on myself and I have positive influences around me. But one thing I don’t do is shy away from playing hard on the field. No one can accuse me of not giving it my all every play. 

Because of my commitment to the game, I relented to pressure directly from my coach to play injured. Despite the pain, I suited up, the staff injected me with what I now know was a powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller that the NFLPA has warned against using, and I gave it my all for the team. I played until it was clear that I could not use my ankle to safely perform my playing responsibilities. On top of that, the pain was extreme. I took a seat on the sideline and my coach came up to me, very upset, and shouted, “What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with you?” I told him, “It’s my ankle.” But he knew that. It was well-documented and We had discussed it. He then ordered me to get on the field. I said, “Coach, I can’t.” He didn’t call for medical attention. Instead, he shouted at me, “YOU’RE DONE!” while he ran his finger across his throat. Coach was telling me that if I didn’t play hurt, then I was done with the Bucs. 

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 did tell coach about my ankle pain on Sunday. 

I know we were losing to the Jets and that was frustrating for all of us. But I could not make football plays on that ankle. Yes, I
walked off the field. But there’s a major difference between launching from the line and taking hits, compared to jogging off the field with a rush of emotions going through your mind. I am reflecting on my reaction, but there was a trigger. The trigger was someone telling me that I’m not allowed to feel pain. I acknowledge my past. But my past does not make me a second class citizen. My past does not forfeit my right to be heard when I am in pain. 

First they cut me. Now they cage me. Instead of asking how I felt or getting to the bottom of it, the team texted my camp promoting a totally false narrative that I randomly acted out without any explanation. They even told us in writing “don’t spin this” any other way. I have stress, I have things I need to work on. But the worst part of this has been the Bucs’ repeated effort to portray this as a random outburst. They are telling people that first I walked off, then I was cut. No. No. No. I was cut first and then I went home. They threw me out like an animal and I refused to wear their brand on my body, so I took my jersey off. 

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 fragments 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 read 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!

Still feeling his side of the argument wasn’t made clear enough, Brown took to social media to continue railing against all those he feels wronged by. On Thursday, Brown posted several screenshots of text messages between he and Arians, implying the latter was aware of the aforementioned ankle issue.

From there, Brown took aim at Alex Guerrero, famed trainer of quarterback Tom Brady, with additional screenshots — making sure to pull Brady into the fray by tagging him in an Instagram post regarding what Brown views as a failed agreement.

In addition to the above screenshots, Brown then dropped an IG post that implies both Arians and Brady are the villains in all of this, associating them with two criminals from the famed “Home Alone” movie. 

At around the same time Brown’s initial statement was released, Burstyn took to social media and wrote a Twitter thread further condemning the Buccaneers for their alleged actions toward his client. 

“Why would they embark on a campaign of false concealment?” Burstyn wrote, in part. “To avoid responsibility for ignoring the risk of serious injury for the sake of winning a game.”

It should be noted that Arians was asked on Monday if there were any issues on the team’s side regarding the handling of Brown’s ankle injury and rehab. To that question, he answered: “None whatsoever. He was cleared to play last week [and] played [well]. And [he was] cleared to play this week.”

Brown is still technically on Tampa Bay’s roster even though Arians did announce immediately following the game that he is “no longer a Buc.” The team is reportedly working with the NFL to determine the next steps to solidify his looming departure, but there is now zero guarantee this all ends with the inevitable divorce.