Following an outburst during a Sunday game that saw him disrobe on the sidelines and abruptly leave the field, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown said Wednesday he had been forced to play on a broken ankle before walking off, then was cut for prioritizing his own health. “The pain was extreme,” he said in a statement. Brown said he endured “pressure directly from my coach” to play while injured. He accused the Buccaneers of unfairly spinning his conduct: “I didn’t quit. I was cut… They threw me out like an animal and I refused to wear their brand on my body, so I took my jersey off.” Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians claimed not to have known of Brown’s injury. Brown said an MRI he received Monday showed a torn ligament, bone fragments, and cartilage loss that will require surgery. Though he said he’d “like to express my gratitude to the Bucs, fans, and my teammates,” Brown went on to say team doctors injected him with “a powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller” before he played part of the game against the New York Jets. Brown was suspended for three games in early December for lying about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
