Bigboy10182000
Footballguy
The “text from Arians” where he says “Hey this is AB” made me laugh. When I text people who have my number I often lead with who I am lol
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Uhhhh….Antonio Brown just quit mid game (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Bigboy10182000
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Anarchy99
Footballguy
I don't want to start a holy war, but it's possible that a lot of people involved with this bear some culpability. I saw a video on YouTube where someone that was an NFL medical staff guy for many years looked at highlights of the game and said it was clear as day that AB wasn't close to 100%, couldn't really cut or put full weight on his ankle, and was clearly favoring his good leg. There was even a play where Brown just fell down after a catch cutting when his bad leg gave out. Whoever the guy commenting was said that every player has a different tolerance for pain (which is very hard to gage and also hard to determine what is playable and what isn't). He even said when AB was doing jumping jacks, he was putting a lot more weight on his better leg (and that was not the same as running, cutting, planting, or getting tackled).
From my own personal background, it sounds like I have had injuries similar to what AB has had. I played some of the worst sports for ankles (soccer, tennis, basketball) back in the day. I have needed ankle surgery on both my ankles for a long time (and never got it) for tendon related and bone fragment issues. Back in the day, I could have felt fine to start the game / match and had my ankle flare up out of nowhere. It happened to me all the time. All it took was landing the wrong way.
Obviously, I was not a world class athlete, but there were times I just couldn't play out of left field (and I might have felt better a little while later). I also didn't disrobe and fling my uniform into the stands, nor would I have started posting stuff about coaches online, so there's that. And no player earned more playing time or got a better rep with coaches by NOT being able to play.
As for AB keeping quiet about his injury during the week and leading up to the game, it's possible he mostly kept quiet because he was about to hit some incentives and wanted to try to get them on the down low. He's been banged up most of the season. Maybe he didn't want to draw attention to himself for the very reason things went south . . . that it would create a problem / scene / distraction.
Who knows what Arians knew or didn't know, but it was clear he was getting fed up with AB. Brown certainly has a laundry list of poor behavior, so he's lost any chance of getting the benefit of the doubt. However, I am sure there are lots of NFL players over the years that have played when they shouldn't have, whether that's by keeping quiet or by having to go into (or forced into) games to keep their jobs and paychecks.
There's no doubt that Brown didn't handle things well, but maybe Arians and the Bucs haven't handled it well either. Similarly, who knows what Brady, Guerreo, and the TB training staff knew and what they said. Brady could have just said Brown was fine and he'll be ready to go (whether that was accurate or not). Maybe more will come out about AB's injury status. But yeah, he's gone on meltdown again and that's an entirely different problem.
He said "this is BA". Maybe he didn't realize AB had his #. Maybe this is the 1st time he ever texted AB. Plus hes an old guy. You know how old people are with technology.
Bigboy10182000
Footballguy
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Deamon
Footballguy
Godsbrother
Footballguy
Understatement. Brown always handles things poorly. He pulled a similar stunt with the Steelers.
He is a jerk and his NFL career can't end soon enough for me.
themeistersinger
Footballguy
Deamon
Footballguy
Yep, Arians admitted in his presser today that those text messages were really sent from him.
Apple Juice
Footballguy
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Godsbrother said:
This is me, also. F that dude. He's a stain on the NFL, and has been for a while now.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
That seems a bit extreme, and unrealistic.Apple Juice said:
jerry jones
Footballguy
On Tampa radio this morning they had on the only fans chick he had in his room the night before the game. Apparently she’s so skilled he only lasted 30 seconds…she did say he was rambling and making no sense when she got to his room
go AB woot
go AB woot
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
I keep thinking Brown is younger than he is.
Brown will be 34 in June, that is a dinosaur for NFL WRs. I mean he is at the end of his career. Some guys never find the right path in life, seems Brown is one of them as he still acts like he is in HS.
Brown has 6 children of his own, and 2 step children. I would think being responsible for 8 kids would bring some type of maturity but with Brown it seems the opposite had happened.
Brown will be 34 in June, that is a dinosaur for NFL WRs. I mean he is at the end of his career. Some guys never find the right path in life, seems Brown is one of them as he still acts like he is in HS.
Brown has 6 children of his own, and 2 step children. I would think being responsible for 8 kids would bring some type of maturity but with Brown it seems the opposite had happened.
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Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
To Sum Up...
-Antonio Brown after the Bucs were in their weakest state with Godwin OUT, with Evans down n out, with Brady needing to WIN NOW...that's right he tried to leverage all that and FORCE the BUCS to guarantee over $2M in player incentives with 28/335/3TDs that he would have fallen short by missing 10 weeks so he didn't really want to play any more.
I'm speechless and can see how this makes for a very good Indi-movie on the professional football that was shot Rambo style but this doesn't make for good stuff in the modern NFL. I do understand why someone like AB did try and go MAFIA on the Bucs but it bit him in the ###. On the other side, maybe the Bucs shoulda given him the money and just shut up...maybe that is what Brady meant when he said there is a lot of moving parts to this so please have empathy.
-Antonio Brown after the Bucs were in their weakest state with Godwin OUT, with Evans down n out, with Brady needing to WIN NOW...that's right he tried to leverage all that and FORCE the BUCS to guarantee over $2M in player incentives with 28/335/3TDs that he would have fallen short by missing 10 weeks so he didn't really want to play any more.
I'm speechless and can see how this makes for a very good Indi-movie on the professional football that was shot Rambo style but this doesn't make for good stuff in the modern NFL. I do understand why someone like AB did try and go MAFIA on the Bucs but it bit him in the ###. On the other side, maybe the Bucs shoulda given him the money and just shut up...maybe that is what Brady meant when he said there is a lot of moving parts to this so please have empathy.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
When you add this to the fiasco he created in Oakland, and the epilogue of his crapping all over Brady (who let AB live in his house, and who somehow convinced Arians, (who didn’t want him based on his history with the Steelers) to bring him on board) it’s just such an insane history.
Capella
Footballguy
Knowing who he is the Bucs should have absolutely guaranteed his incentives. What are we doing here? 3M? You have a 44 year old QB and you just lost one of the best receivers in the league.
Not defending Brown at all, he’s garbage, but the Bucs did this to themselves.
DropKick
Footballguy
Is it accurate that Brown needed just 8 more catches, 55 yards and a TD to hit the incentives?
I hear your point but I guess AB could have gone mad-cow whether the incentives were guaranteed or not. I guess that's what you get when you bring a guy like that into the organization.
If its any consolation, Brady has got it done before with a middling WR corp. Tampa has some depth at TE/WR. Getting Fournette back would be a big boost.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
He needed like 28/330/3TDs, something close to that and he wasn't going to hit it. Arians at a Press Conference this week stated that AB was screaming about targets in the locker room at Halftime and the personnel group he was being run with. Both AB and Evans were on a pitch count, Arians words.
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Osaurus
Footballguy
Imagine if he had those 3 games back where he tried to outsmart the NFL with his awesome COVID vax card.
ETA: Or was he injured for all or part of this time? If so, maybe not.
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DropKick
Footballguy
Seems to be some conflicting details...
I have him at 42 receptions for 545 and 4 TDs (45/545/4) fro the season. From what I can tell from the quotes below, it appears there were two separate incentive levels, one attainable and one probably out of reach. Plus a little more more for the SB and playing 45% snaps
50/600/5 short by 8/55/1 for this level
70/800/7 short by 28/255/3 for this level
"Brown lost up to $1 million in contract incentives. The receiver had three separate bonuses he could have achieved, according to Spotrac, each totaling $333,333. Brown was eight catches shy of unlocking one bonus and needed 55 receiving yards to secure another. The 33-year-old receiver was one receiving touchdown short for the third bonus.
Brown had incentives to reach 50 and 70 receptions, 600 and 800 yards, as well as five and seven touchdowns. Brown would also have earned a $250,000 bonus if the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl and Brown played 45 percent of the team's snaps."
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Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
I mean, in the sense that they brought him in at all this year, a flame out was fairly predictable knowing who he is, and what he had just done to the Raiders. So in that light, yes. They did this to themselves.
but they gave him the contract they did because he is such a volatile, enigmatic character. And that’s a very polite and generous description.
when a player like that, coming off of an absence from the team due to his own conniving fraudulent vaccination card issues complains loudly about not getting those incentives, the bucs were absolutely right to not pay him for incentives that he failed to meet. Why would anyone reward petulance?
from a mile high perspective, there’s some sweet irony to this, considering AB’s long history of not paying his bills.
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Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
With one game to play… well, technically, 1.5 games yet to play, he almost certainly would’ve hit the first level of incentives.
DropKick
Footballguy
Sure... he might have been close last week with the Bucs playing from behind. That's been one of the more confusing things about the whole situation to me... well, that and it is AB. Maybe it was this second level of incentives he was eyeing.
BladeRunner
Footballguy
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
What about the story he went to the Bucs and told them to give him the money before he took the field vs the Jets or perhaps the week prior once they lost Godwin and Evans is gimpy and he tried to squeeze the Bucs, or you could say he was trying to be a shrewd business man, either way some folks feel the Bucs should have cut him the check for $3M on the spot, Brady doesn't have the luxury of waiting an off season for another WR or two to show up.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
-Again, Brown according to reports went to th Bucs and because he missed so much time and would not hit his incentives, asked the Bucs, told the Bucs to rework his contract and guarantee that he would get the money anyways and the Bucs refused...let's work with that bit of news.
-That means he was fed up by halftime and that matches Arians story that Brown was upset in the locker room at Halftime.
-Likely AB knew before he ever suited up that day in New York that he already quit mentally because the Bucs wouldn't cave to his wishes.
-That means he was fed up by halftime and that matches Arians story that Brown was upset in the locker room at Halftime.
-Likely AB knew before he ever suited up that day in New York that he already quit mentally because the Bucs wouldn't cave to his wishes.
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Capella
Footballguy
I understand the optics of guaranteeing that right after the vaccine card. Would be an abysmal look. But if the point of all of this is another super bowl they screwed up. If they don’t want to reward a petulant player, then sure that was the right thing to do.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
TB was pretty much out of cap space and structured Brown’s contract this way to be able to fit him under the cap. He wasn’t happy when his injuries and suspension left him in a position to miss out his incentives (which he never wanted in his contract in the first place). So he asked them to pay him whether he hit them or not. The team also wanted him to play and he had to shoot up to be able to get on the field against the Jets.
AB clearly has a bum ankle and has been playing hurt. In his mind, he should have been guaranteed the incentive money had he been able to sign a market contract before the season.
I get it. People are tired of Brown and his antics and could care less what he thinks. He signed a team friendly deal, which was basically a we’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today contract.
I think lots of things went wrong and should have been handled better. Brown is still a nut job, but Tampa knew that going in.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Godsbrother
Footballguy
I’m glad that TB held the line and Brown finally was not rewarded for his bad behavior.
habsfan
Footballguy
I would suggest AB got a "market" contract. A market contract for someone like him takes into account his history of shenanigans and the reduced interest for his services
It appears TB signed him to a deal that would protect them from some of the risk associated with this guy and it has ended up doing that (financially anyway). Weird.
It appears TB signed him to a deal that would protect them from some of the risk associated with this guy and it has ended up doing that (financially anyway). Weird.
DropKick
Footballguy
As I recall, he felt he played for a discount in Pittsburgh. I guess he should have been happy with the Raiders contract, but wanted to compete for titles? He got that in New England and Tampa... but then we spring back to the money. I think there was no keeping AB happy.
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