North San Antonio News

Let’s talk athlete meltdowns.

Many of us have seen the videos of Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown having a public meltdown during the Jan. 2 game against the New York Jets. The troubled wide out threw off his pads and jersey, danced in the end zone, waved to the crowd and left the field. Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians announced immediately after the game that Brown was off the Buccaneers for good.

“He is no longer a Buc,” Arians said. His quarterback, Tom Brady, said, “That’s obviously a difficult situation. We all love him, care about him deeply. We want to see him be at his best, but unfortunately, it won’t be with our team. I think everyone should be very compassionate and empathetic toward some very difficult things that are happening.”

First, we heard from coaches that Brown refused to go on the field and play, then he left the field shirtless.

Most of us, immediately knee-jerked and said, “Good that he is gone. No room for that in football.” After all, he has a history of histrionics, and earlier this season it was revealed that he and some teammates lied about their vaccination status and submitted fake vaccine cards, resulting in a three-game suspension for violating the league's COVID-19 protocols.

But our reaction came before we got all the pertinent information. I have learned that it is not wise nor prudent to jump to conclusions before you have gathered all the evidence, because things may not always be as they seem. Or are they?

Brown’s spin was that he had an injured ankle and that he had discussed it with coaches. He was injured, in pain and couldn’t do the job on the field and told them so.

Coaches said they had never heard about an injured ankle.

Brown countered with pending ankle surgery. So now, many lean back on Brown’s side.

But other sources have said that at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Jets, Brown was agitated about not getting the targets he was expecting during the game and had to be calmed down.