And you thought the Antonio Brown drama was over.
The now-former Buccaneers catcher launched another public tirade against his former team after he was released Thursday.
This time, Brown, who left the field in the middle of the game against the Jets on Sunday, went after his Tampa Bay quarterback and his biggest defender, Tom Brady.
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“To me, a friend is someone who has your back,” Brown said on Friday’s episode of the “Full Send Podcast.”
“Not everyone in sports will be your friend. Tom Brady is my friend, why? Because I am a good footballer. He needs me to play soccer. People have different meanings of what friendship is. “
Brady was largely responsible for Brown’s landing in Tampa Bay during the 2020 season, signing a one-year contract before the team’s Super Bowl run. The quarterback invited Brown to live with him and his family in Florida and convinced the Bucs to hire him, despite head coach Bruce Arians previously calling him a “diva.”
Brown, however, doesn’t seem to appreciate the actions of his quarterback. Appearing at Clubhouse with Kazeem Famuyide, Ashley Nicole Moss, and Sean Brown, he seemed to hint that Brady didn’t do enough.
“You can’t expect anyone to be your friend in the soccer business,” Brown said. “In the soccer business, our business is winning. Brady and I like to win. We have that in common. That’s what makes me want to be around him, makes us jelly, makes us cool. I’m here getting trial contracts, you say you’re my friend, I shouldn’t be playing that kind of deal when I came here and we won a Super Bowl. “
Brown added: “Brady can’t do shit on his own. But you guys are going to make it look like he’s just a heroic guy. We are all human, bro. We all depend on someone else to get the job done. “
The 33-year-old catcher already had a long list of off-field problems and was unemployed for a season and a half before signing with the Bucs after the sexual assault allegations were revealed. It’s reasonable to argue that Brown wouldn’t have had another shot in the NFL if it weren’t for Brady, which the catcher admitted was true.
“Brady is the general manager,” Brown said on the Full Send Podcast. “He’s the guy my agent made the contract with, he’s the middle man and the politician. I talked to Tom and he knows I’m not going to play. “
Since signing the deal, Brown has been able to keep his antics reasonably in check for about a calendar year. During the season, however, he was suspended three games for using a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. Then came Sunday’s infamous collapse at MetLife Stadium, where he shot off the field – and off the team roster – following a dispute with the coaching staff.
Brown also continued to attack Arians on Full Send, who he claims forced him to play through an ankle injury.
Imagine the guy you think is backing you up, who flew here on a mission with, and knows your situation, and you get there and you’re fighting with them, who tells you that because you can’t go to war with them, do you? says you get out of there? ”
Brown said. “I am an alpha male. If you discriminate my public image and my name, at that moment, you will screw yourself too professionally. “
Arians has denied Brown’s claims, saying “at no point during that game did he ask the coach or doctor about his ankle.”
This story originally appeared in the New York Post.
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