Antonio Brown admits shirtless mid-game exit ‘probably wasn’t necessary or professional’
The troubled wide receiver gave the quote to TMZ while hanging with Kanye West in Los Angeles Monday night
Antonio Brown may be having a change of heart about some of his most recent bizarre behavior.
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver flew to Los Angeles on Monday after spending the last week mired in controversy over his shirtless televised departure from the team in the middle of the third quarter during their week 17 game against the New York Jets.
“It probably wasn’t necessary or professional,” Brown told TMZ Monday evening outside Craig’s restaurant in West Hollywood. The remark may be the closest thing to contrition Brown has shown publicly since his latest controversy erupted on Jan. 2.
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians mentioned to reporters that he told Brown, ‘You’re done, get the f— out of here,” after he said the receiver refused to re-enter the Jets game when asked to do so.
Arians said Brown had complained about not getting enough targets from quarterback Tom Brady. Brown has maintained the Bucs ignored his concerns about an ankle injury, sharing screenshots on Instagram of text related conversations with Arians as proof.
After the verbal exchange with Arians on the sidelines nine days ago, Brown took off his jersey, shoulder pads, and undershirt before throwing the latter into the crowd near one of the end zones at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey as he hopped across the field before leaving the venue.
Arians told reporters at the post-game press conference that Brown was “no longer a Buc,” but the team waited until Thursday to officially release the seven-time Pro Bowler.
When asked last week if he regretted his actions, the 33-year-old playmaker had a much different response than the one he gave TMZ.
“I’m an alpha male,” Brown told the Full Send Podcast during an interview that was posted on YouTube on Friday. “You say f— me, I’m not going to react, bro, because it don’t really matter what you say. Like, you can’t affect me. But, like, if you like discriminate on my public image and my name? Like bro, at that point it’s f— you too, bro, professionally…
“You cut me in a press conference after the game,” Brown continued, referring to Arians. “Everyone see what I does. They don’t want to see what [the other side does] to make me get to that point. You feel super disrespected when the coach tell you, ‘Get the f— out of here.'”
Brown was visiting Craig’s restaurant with fellow superstar Kanye West on Monday when TMZ’s cameras caught up with him.
Later on, he tweeted a picture of himself and Ye hanging out at Craig’s and shared an Instagram video of a barber trimming the Donda hitmaker’s beard.
The caption on Brown’s IG video suggested he and West may be collaborating on music. As “AB,” Brown recently released his own rap single Pit Not the Palace.
“Ye & AB = SB,” the caption said, along with the hashtag, “StayTuned”.
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