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Antonio Brown’s contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has officially been terminated, the Florida NFL team confirmed in a statement on Thursday.
The team’s announcement comes just one day after he leveled allegations against coach Bruce Arians and team leadership in a lengthy statement on Wednesday addressinghis dramatic exit in the middle of the Buccaneers game last Sunday.
During Sunday’s game, Brown tore off his jersey and padding and threw them into the stands. In a post-game press conference, Arians said that he had told Brown to “get out” before the incident. During the conference, Arians also said that Brown was"no longer" a member of the team.
In his Wednesday statement, shared through attorney Sean Burstyn, Brown claimed he “relented to pressure directly from my coach to play injured.”
Brown said Arians “ordered” him to get on the field. When he refused due to his injury, the coach told him he was “done with the Bucs,” according to the player.
“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,” Brown’s statement read. “Then came their ‘spin.’ Coach denied on national television that he knew about my ankle. That’s 100% inaccurate.”
In a press conference on Thursday shortly after the team confirmed the termination of Brown’s contract, Arians claimed that Brown never asked a trainer or doctor about his ankle during the game: “I was never notified of it.” Arians said Brown refused to play and complained he wasn’t getting the ball, which is when the coach claims he told him to leave.
Arians also asserted “You can’t force a player to play. They have that choice, it’s their body. He decided to play.” The coach also said that members of the Buccaneers know “the truth” of “what happened.”
In the screenshot of the text, Arians wrote back, “Come see me [in] the morning. We’ll talk it out. Definitely want you with us in case you’re ready.”
“You saw the texts,” Arians said, confirming that the text conversation was real.
Regardless, Arians said that he still wishes Brown “the best for him to get the help he needs.”
Continued Brady, “You know, I’m just going to do the best I can do quarterbacking the team, try to put together a great week, finish strong. You just always deal with different things over the course of the season. That’s what we’re doing this week.”
source: people.com
