Sandy MaloneEast Rutherford, NJ – Beleaguered National Football League (NFL) wide receiver Antonio Brown asked New Jersey State Police troopers for a ride to the airport after he threw a temper tantrum and stormed off the field during a game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Brown, who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers until Jan. 1, got into an argument with his coach on the sidelines and tore off his gear, threw his gear into the stands before he stomped across the field and out of the stadium, ESPN reported.
Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians told FOX NFL that the disagreement began when he was trying to get Brown to go into the game to play.
Arians said Brown refused.
I'm told that Antonio Brown was not benched prior to him leaving the field. Source tells me, "He quit." I'm also told that he is not flying home on the team plane, as some of you have asked.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 2, 2022
So the coach said he tried again to get Brown into the game and the wide receiver refused for a second time, FOX NFL reported.
That’s when Arians told Brown to get out.
Just talked to Bruce Arians who said he was trying to get AB to go into game & AB refused. Tried again Brown refused & Arians told him to get out. On if he saw AB take his jersey off.
“Yeah, I did. Never seen anything like it in all my years.” @NFLonFOX
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) January 2, 2022
Footage of the sidelines showed that a couple of Brown’s fellow players appeared to try and talk him down before their now-former teammate bent over and began pulling his jersey over his head.
Brown worked his way down the sideline, removing gear and throwing some of the pieces up to fans in stands, videos showed.
Here's a sideline view of what happened with Antonio Brown. Looks like Mike Evans was trying to calm him down but nothing was going to help. AB took everything off and left.
(video via @mmmmillah)pic.twitter.com/sMii14O7bh
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 2, 2022
Once he was shirtless, he started jumping up and down in the end zone waving for fans to make some noise.
It bears noting that the New York Jets and the Buccaneers were still on the field when Brown had his temper tantrum on it.
His now-former coach told FOX NFL he saw Brown’s antics as the wide receiver left the field.
“Yeah, I did. Never seen anything like it in all my years,” Arians said.
MetLife security said they initially thought Brown was a fan who had jumped from the stands, ESPN reported.
“We thought he was a jumper,” one security officer said.
The security officer said that as Brown walked through the tunnel, he stopped to ask New Jersey state troopers for ride to the airport, ESPN reported.
The troopers reportedly told Brown “No,” and then he went and changed in the locker room and made his own arrangements.
“He was shirtless and didn’t have his wallet,” the security officer said.
Brown later popped up in a series of social media posts by a driver used by several NFL players that showed him taking the former Buccaneer to the airport.
He did not fly home with the team, ESPN reported.
Antonio Brown has been picked up from MetLife and is in the city with NYC driver Danny Chalet (IG Dannyboyhustlehard) pic.twitter.com/VXhdNNkpYp
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) January 2, 2022
During the locker room press conference after the game, the coach made it perfectly clear where he stood with regard Brown, Sports Illustrated reported.
“He is no longer a Buc, alright?” Arians told reporters. “That’s the end of the story. Let’s talk about the guys that went out there and won the game.”
The Bucs beat the Jets 28-24.
Brown has been in trouble over and over throughout his professional football career.
In February of last year, he was ordered to pay $100,000 to a woman who accused him of rape after he violated a confidentiality agreement.
Brown was arrested in January of 2020 after a physical altercation with moving men in front of his house after he refused to pay his $4,000 bill.
Then in October of 2020, Brown was accused of having destroyed a surveillance camera and thrown his bicycle at a security-guard shack in a gated Hollywood, Florida community where he lives.
Brown has played with three NFL teams in the last four years.
Holly Matkin
