Former Bucs WR Antonio Brown talks about his mental health
With his infamous mid game dash across the field before leaving the Bucs for good still fresh in mind, the wide receiver attempted to clear the air.
The former Bucs' wide receiver is back in the news this week haven spoken about his mental health in a recent interview.
Former Bucs' WR Antonio Brown denies mental health issues
Two weeks have passed since wide receiver Antonio Brown was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In that time there have been comments from Bucs' coach Bruce Arians, who pushed back on Brown's claim that his now famous mid game exit was due to him being forced to play injured, as well as from former teammate Tom Brady who seemed to imply that Brown might in fact be struggling with his mental health. There were also others in the franchise who echoed Brady's sentiments.
According to reports, Brown recently sat down for an episode of the podcast 'I Am Athlete' which incidentally is due to be released on Monday. During the chat Brown directly addressed the notion of fans and experts who have referred to him as "crazy" and subsequently dismissed the idea all together. "Why every time something happens bad, or how someone reacts, 'Aw, he's crazy, there's something wrong with his mental health,'" Brown said. "There's nothing wrong with my mental health. Someone told me to get the [expletive] out of here. I'm not passive-aggressive."
What next for Antonio Brown?
It was clear that with his statements Brown was discussing his verbal bust up with Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians. The out of work wide receiver has maintained at all times during the ongoing saga that he refused to play on the grounds that his ankle was too painful - which he claims he made known to staff. "An NFL Super Bowl team coach told a guy on the team who's playing hurt 'get the [expletive] out of here,'" said Brown. Arians for his part has continued to rebuff Brown's claims while stating that Brown's frustration was related to his not being involved enough in the offensive plays. To add further context, it has been implied that said frustration was directly related to payments that Brown would receive should he have attained specific stats.
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Whatever the case, there is one thing that is certain and that's the fact that Antonio Brown remains without a team. While he does continue to deny that he has any mental health problems, the reality is there is a list of past transgressions that would at the least suggest that his off field behavior is not the best. That being said Brown has made it clear that he intends to play in the league again once he recovers from surgery to repair his ankle. Will another team in the NFL take the risk thereby giving Antonio Brown his wish? Only time will tell.