Antonio Brown‘s at times embattled tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appears to have come to an end following a bizarre in-game outburst, with head coach Bruce Arians saying in his post-game comments that Brown is “no longer a Buc.”
The team has not issued an official comment on Brown at this time.
Brown, with the Buccaneers trailing 24-10 late in the third quarter on Sunday against the New York Jets, decided to take off his jersey and shoulder pads and leave the field, gesturing to fans on his way out.
A video taken by fans from the sidelines shows Mike Evans trying to keep Brown from taking his jersey off, but he was not able to convince his teammate to stay in the game. Brown has yet to address the situation publicly.
“I’m not talking about him,” Arians told reporters. “He’s no longer part of the Bucs. That’s the end of the story.”
Brown’s time in Tampa had moments of controversy before this apparent end, having been suspended for three games for using a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. Brown was critical of reporters for what he deemed was creating drama around his situation.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” Brown told reporters after multiple questions about his suspension. “You guys are all drama. It’s all about football. We’re going to talk about Carolina or I don’t want to talk to you guys. … It’s a lot of drama you guys create, a lot of drama people create who want stuff from me. That’s a part of life, a part of being in the position. I can’t control what people want from me, what people write about me.”
