The observers agreed on one thing: they had never seen an action like this. In the third quarter of the game between the Buccaneers and the Jets in New Jersey, Brown took off his jersey and gloves, threw them and a shirt into the audience and waved goodbye to the fans in the catacombs – while the two teams were facing each other on the field .
Arians had previously ordered the passport recipient to the bank, which clearly annoyed Brown. When he tried to send him back to the field, the player refused and finally took his hat. Even his team-mate Mike Evans couldn’t prevent that. Even more curious: According to a report by the TV station Fox Sports, folders in the catacombs initially mistook the half-naked player for a fan and tried to catch him.
Separation after the end of the game
The “Bucs”, who had qualified for the play-off as winners of NFC South last week, celebrated a surprisingly narrow victory at the outsider, who only 15 seconds before the end through a 33-yard pass from old master Tom Brady to Cyril Grayson had been accomplished. The topic after that was Brown, of course, but Arians said at the press conference afterwards: “He’s no longer a ‘Buc’.”
Brady, who had played briefly with Brown at the New England Patriots, piloted him to Florida and won the Super Bowl with him, asked for sympathy. “It’s a difficult situation,” said the 44-year-old. “Everyone should do what he can to help him when he needs it. We all love him. He is very important to us, ”said the seven-time champion. “We want to see him in his best form, unfortunately it won’t be in our team anymore.”
“We should all be empathetic”
The most important thing about football is relationships with friends and teammates, Brady said. “You go beyond the game. We should all be compassionate and empathetic. ”Some“ Bucs ”players immediately took care of their previous teammates. “I sent him a message straight away,” said Le’Veon Bell, who had worked with Brown during his most successful days as a Pittsburgh Steelers player. “Overall, he’s a good person. He makes bad decisions sometimes, but he’s human, he’s not perfect, and we’ll go on without him. “
Whether Brown will find a new team is at least very questionable. Rather, the US media focused on dealing with professionals. “Antonio Brown’s mental health is not a joke that should be trivialized by Internet memes,” according to the AP news agency. “Brown needs help.” It was by no means amusing to see the pictures, wrote CBS and rated the action as “the last cry for help in the most public way possible”.