Antonio Brown still wants to play professional football but on his terms. The wide receiver-turned-pop culture anti-hero has had some tumultuous times with the organizations he has played for, and now he is weighing his options physically before making any changes to his lifestyle.
“I need to get my ankle fixed, but I just want to make sure I got an obligation or a commitment from a team,” Brown said to TMZ. “It’s a lot for a guy to go through surgery without an idea of where you gonna work, or who you going to work for.”
“I think as a player, understanding all the things, I can do all the things in my physical life and move and function normally. I think if it’s not a job that really requires me to come out and put all that impact on my body and my ankles, so until I get that situated, you know, I’m just doing some higher-up things and some positive things. You mentioned Donda Sports; we have some pending things that we are really excited and grateful for.”
Off Season AB
Brown has been closely linked to Kanye West of late, joining his Donda Sports. The company is “a limitless organization centered on professional and wellness support in equal measure with the ambition to work with athletes across all genders divisions and sports.”
Brown’s last team was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team he left cold on the field at MetLife Stadium during an away game in Week 17. During the third quarter of the Buccaneers’ 28–24 win over the New York Jets, Brown tossed his jersey and gear off and ran back into the locker room.
Former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians at the time said during the postgame press conference that Brown “is no longer a Buc,” and a back-and-forth finger-pointing ensued.
Brown Back To Bucs
However, his friendship with recently unretired quarterback Tom Brady persisted, and now that Brady is back Brown was asked if returning to the Bucs was a possibility.
“I don’t think that’s a possibility,” Brown said. “How things were handled. How I was handled in regards to the injury. [They] just weren’t able to use me for my value. My true value.
“But I was grateful for the opportunity and the position that I was in and I made the most out of it. For them [Tampa Bay Bucs] to try to manipulate the narrative or act like I walked away from my job is far from the truth.”
The Big Get Back?
Although he has had multiple romantic issues with women and unpaid contractors, he is still working to get back in the league. He recently made an overture towards the Cleveland Browns now that quarterback Deshaun Watson is there.
“I’m a player first,” Brown continued. “I couldn’t even be in this position without being a football player. So I never want to take that for granted. I would love to continue my career. I still got a lot of game left in me.
“You see my highlights; I still feel like I can put up big numbers, and I see what these guys are getting paid. I just wonder why my value isn’t being upheld as the same.”
