Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is not happy with the recent COVID-19 vaccine card scandal that Antonio Brown and two others were involved in. Well, who would be?
Brown along with teammate Mike Edwards and free agent John Franklin III were suspended on Thursday after the NFL found out that they misrepresented their vaccination status based on the NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 Protocol. Basically, the fake vaccination card story from weeks ago was true. It is also worth noting that it had been claimed Brown got the fake card from a teammate, which could very well be Edwards.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Arians expressed his frustration about the development. He noted that “it pisses me off” they have to deal with such issue, especially after all the efforts they made in the past year to follow the guidelines and adhere to the league's COVID-19 protocols.
Antonio Brown and Mike Edwards will be out for the Buccaneers' next three games without pay due to the fake vaccine card discovery. Brown, for his part, is set to lose $183,000 in salary because of the long suspension.
The Buccaneers also released a statement after the NFL announced their findings. The team simply thanked the league for handling the matter and vowed to support and strictly follow theCOVID-19 protocols in place.
Bruce Arians and his Tampa Bay are 8-3 on the season and seem to be locked for the playoffs. If all goes well, they can have Brown and Edwards back in time before the postseason, though it remains to be seen if the veteran wideout will be physically ready by that time since he has been out since Week 6 because of an ankle injury.