After days of keeping his lips zipped, Antonio Brown finally broke his silence on Wednesday. In a statement released to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Brown spoke at length about the controversial incident in Week 17 when he walked out in the middle of the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets.
While he expressed gratitude to the Buccaneers, Brown also didn't mince his words in explaining his side of the story. A glaring part was his claim that Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians knew that he was having trouble with his ankle injury but banished him when he repeatedly refused to come into the game.
Brown added that Arians lied to reporters when asked about the contentious incident.
“Being fired on the sideline was bad enough. Then came their “spin.” Coach denied on national television that he knew about my ankle. That's 100% inaccurate. Not only did he know I missed several games with the injury, he and I exchanged texts days before the game where he clearly acknowledged my injury. He obviously knew I was on the injury list. And the GM acknowledged after the game in text messages to my camp that I did tell coach about my ankle pain on Sunday.”
A lengthy statement from Antonio Brown, announcing he’s having ankle surgery and giving his side of Sunday: pic.twitter.com/pPl0X5HQsx
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 6, 2022
At this point, as with most high-profile issues, it has become a he-said-she-said affair between Brown and Arians. It's an unfortunate turn of events, especially with the Buccaneers hoping to defend their Super Bowl title.
Arians has clarified that Brown is still technically a member of the Buccaneers, but the embattled star's latest revelations could complicate things.
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