Antonio Brown seemed to burn his only supporter, Tom Brady, on the way out of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization. Brown indicated he felt was treated unfairly and was underpaid in Tampa.
Well, he did another interview to take most of it back. Brown expressed solidarity with Brady — just a few weeks after suggesting his relationship with Brady was superficial. Brown appeared on HBO’s “Real Sports” with Bryant Gumbel to discuss his outburst during the regular season with the Buccaneers when he stormed off the field, leading to his departure from the team.
Brown had a lot of money on the line during the game, with the ability to make up to $1 million in incentives in his contract. He had just three catches and 26 yards — short of the milestones he needed to reach in his contract — when he took off his pads and shirt and left the field.
“It’s not worryin’ about the ball. Tom Brady is my guy,” Brown told HBO in a recent interview. “He’s the reason I’m on Tampa Bay, so I know I’m gonna get the ball.”
It’s a different tone than the one he took on the “Full Send” podcast when he questioned the Buccaneers’ decision to put Brown on an incentive-laden deal.
“If Tom Brady is my boy why am I playing for an earnest salary?,” Brown said in early January. “(Rob) Gronkowski is his boy, right? How much did he get paid? So why is AB on a prove-it deal? Who’s better than me over there?”
Brown was on a prove-it deal after forcing a trade away from both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Las Vegas Raiders — before ultimately landing with the New England Patriots. They cut him after less than two weeks after multiple accusers filed civil lawsuits against Brown alleging sexual assault and harassment. When Brady joined Tampa, he pushed the Bucs to give Brown another chance.
During the appearance on HBO, Brown backtracked his comments about money, too.
“I’ve been around the NFL for 12 years. I’ve got plenty of money, a whole lot of money,” Brown told Gumbel. “The principle of this situation here is as a football player, a coach understood that I was hurt, and in the midst of not being able to do what I need to do to work for him, he’s telling me to “get the f outta here. You’re done.”
