TAMPA (SNN-TV) – Four days after he threw off his helmet and dashed off the field in the middle of a game against the New York Jets, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have terminated Antonio Brown’s contract, effective immediately.
Brown and his attorney said Wednesday that he told the Buccaneers he was too hurt to continue playing on an injured ankle, while coach Bruce Arians refuted having any knowledge to the nature of his outburst, nor did he say Brown communicated to him or to the training staff that his ankle was bothering him.
A Bucs team official says Brown was agitated at halftime of Sunday’s game against the New York Jets about not getting the targets he was expecting and he had to be calmed down.
Brown’s attorney said the receiver’s ankle injury, and not targets, were the source of Brown’s frustration.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Brown said he was forced to play on an injured ankle that will require surgery, which is why he exited Sunday’s game so abruptly in the third quarter.
Brown also released a series of alleged text messages between himself and Bruce Arians, where Brown informed Arians of the injury pre-game. Arians disagrees.
“At no point in time during that game, did he ever ask a trainer or a doctor about his ankle. I then went back and approached him about what’s going on. I ain’t playing. What’s going on I ain’t getting the ball. That’s when I said you’re done, get the f— out of here.”
Arians went on to say the Bucs full attention is now on their home game with Carolina, kickoff is set for 4:25pm Sunday from Raymond James Stadium.
