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Antonio Brown explains why he walked out on Buccaneers
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Antonio Brown explains why he walked out on Buccaneers

Pretty much everything Antonio Brown has been connected to over the past four years has ended in chaos and that includes his brief tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he abruptly stormed off the field and removed his uniform in a 2022 game against the New York Jets.

This week Brown shared his side of the story during an appearance on Tyreek Hill's podcast, claiming the Buccaneers treated him "like a dog."

Brown profanely argued that Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady had called him in the week leading up to the game and told him he was looking to get him 10-12 targets. Brown, who had not practiced all week due to an injury, decided to play through that injury because he felt he was going to have a chance for a big week.

Said Brown:

"We (were) about to play the Jets and I am already hurt," he said. "So I took pictures to send to the coach and told him 'Look, If we're going to win the Super Bowl I'm going to need to take these last two weeks to recover up so I can give you my best when we go to win the Super Bowl,' but the coach called me saying that I wasn't resting. So then Tom (Brady) called me and told me he'd hit me with 10-12 (passes), so he gassed me up, and that's all I needed to hear. But you know as a player, if you f---ing up but your team needs you then you just suck it up for the game and for the team. I already know they were being fake to me the whole time I was there. I got suspended (for breaking COVID-19 rules) and I came back and they had some guys hurt, so they wanted to get everything out of me — they treated me like I'm a dog."

Brown had been targeted five times and caught three passes for 26 yards before storming off the field.

He never played in the NFL again.

It was just another chapter in a troubled story for Brown that has included several off-field legal problems, turmoil on the field and an unmatched string of chaos that prematurely ended a career that should have been one of the all-time greats.

Brown's latest run of chaos included an Arena Football venture that saw his team get kicked out of the league due to his actions.

Whether it was with Pittsburgh, Oakland, New England, Tampa Bay, his off-field activities or his brief dip into football team ownership everything always seems to end the same way. The one common denominator in all of that — Brown himself — never seems to take any accountability for it.

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