Antonio Brown is still on his cross controversy media tour talking to any media outlet who will let him state his side of the story in the fallout between him and the Tampa Bay Bucs. Brown was cut from the team earlier this month after cameras captured him taking off his shoulder pads, jersey and undershirt and leaving the field while his team was on offense against the New York Jets.
Brown told “CBS Mornings” co-host and former NFL player Nate Burleson that the on-field incident was triggered by an ankle injury that he says was not taken seriously by his coach. As you know, head coach Bruce Arians has disputed that and stated Brown actually complained about a lack of targets and refused to go back in the game. That’s when he confirmed he told him to ‘get the f outta here.’
The incident of Brown leaving the sidelines had social media thinking he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as CTE.
“I never had a mental health diagnosis,” Brown said. “I never had a issue or problem. I don’t take pills. I just got a high IQ.”
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He also revealed to Burleson that he has tried therapy, but has been unable to find a connection with a therapist.
“I tried it through the NFL, but I don’t really got time to consult with random people I don’t know about my mental space or how I look at things,” Brown said. “Most of the people from different forms of the world. Like, I’m from the pit. Most of the people we talk to, they from the palace. So how your lenses look at life is not how mines is.”
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver revealed in another interview that the team offered to pay him $200,000 to step away from the team and commit himself to a mental health facility.
“These guys at the Tampa Bay Bucs tried to make an agreement with me to give me $200,000 to go to the crazy house so these guys could look like they know what they were talking about,” Brown said on the season debut of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” which aired on Tuesday.
Brown’s attorney Sean Burstyn explained: “The offer was Antonio would basically sit on the sidelines, go on some list and commit himself to some form of intensive mental health treatment, and we were specifically told in writing by the general manager twice: ‘Don’t spin this any other way.'”
Burstyn also added: “To the extent any of that is coming from a spin that Antonio had a spontaneous mental episode, it’s resentful and it’s hurtful and it’s a disservice to people who do suffer from mental health challenges. We all have our difficulties.”
