A bizarre sequence unfolded during Sunday’s showdown between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets.
With his team down by 14 and three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Bucs wide receiver Antonio Brown stripped off his clothes and randomly ran off the field.
It was a bizarre moment, to say the least.
Antonio Brown ran off the field shirtless after showing some frustration on the sidelines.@JenHale504 pic.twitter.com/Jet6ofnNm2
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 2, 2022
Naturally, fans all had the same reaction: why?
Based on a preliminary analysis of the situation, it appears as though Brown had a meltdown of some sort.
Antonio Brown has a meltdown at the hand of the #Jets and #BraxtonBerrios pic.twitter.com/RGhSYpyrOu
— Miller (@mmmmillah) January 2, 2022
Antonio Brown took his uniform off and ran into the locker room. pic.twitter.com/ngl6P40Agd
— JPA Football (@jpafootball) January 2, 2022
At the point which this all occurred, Brown had recorded three receptions for 26 yards.
Social media reacted immediately:
Did AB just rage quit? Lol wtf pic.twitter.com/kERybFl9jj
— Public Enema (@PublicEnema3) January 2, 2022
Did AB just retire ? pic.twitter.com/RoHsVgM29I
— Dennis / #1 Kyler, Russ & Rose Fan (@RussNRoses) January 2, 2022
Did AB just quit in the middle of the game??
— Barstool Sportsbook (@BSSportsbook) January 2, 2022
When Tom Brady saw Antonio Brown leave the stadium pic.twitter.com/DIUCPvsnH8
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) January 2, 2022
It will be interesting to see if further clarity on what happened with Brown ultimately emerges throughout the day.
Big picture – this has been a rough year for the Bucs receiver. Between facing a five-year prison sentence, his run-ins with groupies and his girlfriend making headlines for all the wrong reasons, it has been one headache after another.
Erin Andrews’ 1-word message to Jerry Jones. https://t.co/oULnWmMv1S
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 2, 2022
And that’s not even touching his various love triangles.
Brown is definitely an enigma. What does that ultimately mean for his NFL future? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
