Antonio Brown has no plans to stop his reinvention of life after playing professional football, which might even include a return to the NFL. Due to Brown’s abrupt exit from the field while a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and subsequent accusatory rants against then-head coach Bruce Arians and then-quarterback Tom Brady, many believe Brown’s days in an NFL uniform are over.
That’s not necessarily true, according to his agent, who says teams are still interested in the talented Mr. Brown.
“He is exploring the right fit,” his agent JR Rickert told CBS Sports on Thursday; he also claims there have been recent “genuine” NFL inquiries about Brown.
He believes Brown’s return to an NFL sideline is only a matter of time.
“I think that he is a multi-talented individual who does everything at a high level,” Rickert said, “and whatever he commits to, he goes all in.”
The 34-year-old Brown hasn’t been on an NFL field since leaving the game and hurling his jersey into the stands during a Buccaneers Week 17 game in 2021 after a dispute with Tampa Bay’s head coach.
Then AB became a rapper, starting working with Ye and starting a dance trend that quickly became most athletes’ celebratory go-to move during a game. There were still controversies, but the seven-time Pro Bowl receiver surprised many when he purchased a majority stake in the Albany Empire, an upstart National Arena League team.
However, clues to his wish to return to football came when he reported to practice for his Arena Football team with plans to suit up for his team at a future date. However, Brown has been leaving hints on social media for a while about the teams he is interested in, like tweeting a picture of himself in a Baltimore Ravens uniform.
Antonio Brown is at the game but not suited up. @RodgerWyland trying to ask AB a question but he said give him some space and he’ll do an interview later. Rodger says he’s not leaving here without that interview. pic.twitter.com/F0nx2twISI
Brown is attempting to turn the tide of his perception, running an arena football franchise alongside his father, former arena football star Eddie Brown, and showing that he has a mind for business and nontraditional marketing.
Ironically, in March, when he became co-owner of the Empire, the former NFL receiver announced that he was retiring from football, and he was even mistakenly booted off the field of the Albany Empire by his home arena security.
Minus the athletic ability of his past, Brown looks like an NFL disciplinary nightmare. Since 2019, in addition to the Bucs, he’s left teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, and New England Patriots unceremoniously, and lawsuits have trailed him, including an alleged sexual misconduct and felony battery.
You Never Know …
However, during the 2020 season, Brown attended workouts with Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and Marques “Hollywood” Brown, a member of the Ravens at the time. Following those workouts, Jackson lobbied for the Ravens to sign AB.
When asked about Cam Newton suiting up for the @thealbanyempir, Empire owner Antonio Brown (@AB84) said Newton will "be here soon."
“He’s cool, down-to-earth guy, and he’s passionate about the sport of football,” Jackson said of Brown to The Baltimore Sun. “I feel like the locker room here is different from any other locker room. It’s like a brotherhood going on. It’s none of that outside noise; it’s strictly inside.
“We worry about each other; we worry about what we have going on. We want to win, and I can just tell in him that he wants to win. He wants to play ball.”
Antonio Brown has shown he can either join a franchise and burn his involvement to the ground or own a franchise and attempt to build it up. Will the latter translate into an NFL return?
