The Antonio Brown saga with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is far from being over, despite the franchise have released him on Thursday. The wide receiver not only has taken another shot at Bruce Arians, but he has attacked Tom Brady as well.
AB got himself in trouble again last weekend when he decided to leave the Bucs' game against the New York Jets. From then on, everything has been a mess, with the Bucs and Brown telling different versions of the story.
However, although his problem seemed to be with Bruce Arians and the organization, Brown has also called out Tom Brady. In an appearance at the "Full Send Podcast", the controversial NFL star addressed his relationship with the superstar quarterback.
Antonio Brown calls out Tom Brady
“To me, a friend is someone who’s got your back,” Brown said, as quoted by the New York Post. “Not everybody in sports is going to be your friend. Tom Brady’s my friend why? Because I’m a good football player. He needs me to play football. People have different meanings of what friendship is.
“You can’t really expect anyone to be your friend in the business of football,” he continued. “In the business of football, our business is winning. Brady and I like winning. We have that in common. That’s what makes me want to be around him, makes us jell, makes us great. I’m out here getting prove-it contracts, you say you’re my friend, I shouldn’t be playing on that type of deal when I came here and we won a Super Bowl.”
Brown didn't hold anything back against his former teammate. In fact, he even blamed Brady for the difference between Rob Gronkowski's contract and his: "Gronkowski's his boy, right? How much did he get paid? So why is AB on a prove-it deal? Who's better than me over there? Let's be real," Brown said, per Greg Auman of The Athletic.
However, Antonio Brown went even further in his rant against TB12 by downplaying the impact he has on the field. "Brady can't do s--- by himself. But you guys are going to make it seem like he's just this heroic guy. We're all humans, bro. We're all dependent on somebody else to do the job."
Brown also blasted Bruce Arians, insisting that he tried to make him play through injury. “Imagine the guy who you think has your back, who you flew here with to do a mission, and they know your situation, and you get there and you’re battling with them, that he tells you that because you can’t go to war with them, he tells you to get the ---- out of there?” Brown said. “I’m an alpha male. If you discriminate on my public image and my name, at that point, it’s ---- you too professionally.”
His rant against Bruce Arians, with whom he had the argument on the sidelines, is one thing. But taking it on Tom Brady makes no sense. The quarterback has been the main reason why he signed for the Bucs in the first place, giving him another chance in the NFL. Besides, Brady had always had his back, even this week.
It remains to be seen how this situation goes on. The Bucs still have a lot ahead of themselves this season with the playoffs looming around, so it's understandable Arians wanted to set the record straight on Thursday to end this once and for all. But Brown's comments suggest this won't be over that soon.
