Tompa Bay: Tom Tom club
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Am I the only one who won't be SHOCKED if this ends up being a "miscommunication" and AB is back with the team at some point?
You might be, w/r/t TB. But I think its not inconceivable someone else gives him a shot.
If they cut / waive him, can any team claim him or sign him if unclaimed, effective immediately? I could see the Cowboys having an interest with Gallup getting hurt.
This is kind of like when Blount left Pittsburgh in 2014, right?
This is kind of like when Blount left Pittsburgh in 2014, right?
He posted on IG this morning that he "left because [he's] super gremlin." What does that even mean?
He would be subject to waivers because the release in question would occur after the trade deadline. So-called vested veterans (more than four years service time, I believe) aren’t subject to waivers if released before the trade deadline.
I’m not sure how his incentives would work if claimed/awarded to a team (he was primed to get about a million in separate catch/yards/TD incentives, something like 11/55/1), but I can’t imagine Dallas would be concerned about another team claiming him. Who else would?
It's hard to perform a more toxic act in the NFL than walking off the field in the fashion that Brown did; not at all comparable to the Blount situation. I doubt he will be getting any more chances at this point in the season. Certainly not with Tampa Bay.
I thought Blount kind of did that at the end of a Pittsburgh game, no? Didn't he bolt for the locker room before a game was over?
The only reason he got his last TWO shots was bc of Tom Brady. He had nobody else in his corner prior to the Pats signing him so I’d find it hard to believe anyone shows up now after the Patriots AND Bucs episodes. He’s untouchable imo.
Maybe not, though I'd argue that telling a player to go to the lockerroom and that you were cutting him because he said he was too hurt to play is about as toxic and even more unprofessional.
Antonio Brown is a shitty person because of his many off the field issues, but don't forget that Arians and company are just as bad, they don't care if a guy is a felon, but not playing hurt is a bridge too far.
By the way, I just watched Brady's game-winning drive from yesterday. Unreal. 2 minutes left, no timeouts, down 4, ball at his own 7.
Battaboombattabing. Touchdown Tampa. Unbelievable (yet...so believable).
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWYrxyjCT4c
Battaboombattabing. Touchdown Tampa. Unbelievable (yet...so believable).
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWYrxyjCT4c
Throwing crucial passes to C Grayson, T Johnson, and B Perriman.
The only first name I know off the top of my head out of those guys is Perriman and that's because of his game winning TD catch in OT a few weeks ago.
Sorry, to be clear I didn’t mean to suggest that what Blount and AB did were comparable. Just that they both “quit” after the trade deadline. I just wanted to know what the cut / waiver rules were.
Good news guys. AB released a rap song yesterday too:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7w7Eelnlgw
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7w7Eelnlgw
Gotta be honest - its real easy to pin the blame of this onto AB. And the way he left the field was 100% on him.
But if the events that transpired were as follows, I'm not sure how Arians isn't at fault here.
Arians asked Brown to play.
Brown said he couldn't go.
Arians told him that he was done with the team.
Brown pulls a Brown.
Again - had Brown simply sat down and shut up, he's probably still with the team. Arians is a hot head, and it isn't out of the realm of possibility that theres a conversation after the game where Arians and Brown discuss the situation and move forward. And, again, Brown reacting the way he did was childish and is a great example of why hes a locker room cancer.
But on what planet does a coach tell a player he's done with the team because the player says he cant play? Even if the coaching staff doesn't believe Brown, you address that behind closed doors, not in the middle of a fucking game.
We know theres something wrong with AB, but what the fuck is Arians thinking?
But if the events that transpired were as follows, I'm not sure how Arians isn't at fault here.
Arians asked Brown to play.
Brown said he couldn't go.
Arians told him that he was done with the team.
Brown pulls a Brown.
Again - had Brown simply sat down and shut up, he's probably still with the team. Arians is a hot head, and it isn't out of the realm of possibility that theres a conversation after the game where Arians and Brown discuss the situation and move forward. And, again, Brown reacting the way he did was childish and is a great example of why hes a locker room cancer.
But on what planet does a coach tell a player he's done with the team because the player says he cant play? Even if the coaching staff doesn't believe Brown, you address that behind closed doors, not in the middle of a fucking game.
We know theres something wrong with AB, but what the fuck is Arians thinking?
The Jets safety group is decimated. I think it was Elijah Riley on that play. Tom Brady has more career starts than the combined Jets D had yesterday.
Or the reporting is wrong, and there were additional words between Brown saying he couldn't play, and Arians saying bye-bye to Brown.
In the Madden thread, so many folks posted the SB 36 video with Madden saying "What Tom Brady just did gives me goosebumps"
We can only post youtube links in tribute. Brady decided to honor Madden by replicating the drive 21 years later
Arians just said that there was no discussion between him and AB about AB being injured (he sure didn't look injured as he was dancing and running off the field)
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/01/03/bruce-arians-denies-that-antonio-brown-said-he-was-too-injured-to-keep-playing/
Even if the conversation went down exactly as above, are we really going to believe that there weren't other issues that led to this (not even getting into the fake vaccine card and shit)?
If there is one player left in the NFL that has lost the ability to receive the benefit of the doubt, it's Antonio Brown.
Obviously has never seen office space
"We find it's always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown that there's less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week."
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Because they had little confidence in Jets driving for a FG to win and zero confidence in them driving for a TD.
I think it's more because if they block the XP and return it, it's a tie game. Less chance of that if they just run it up the middle. Smart move as it would be tough to get into field goal range with only 15 seconds to work with.
Nice, thought that was surprisingly ballsy call in the moment but hadn’t considered the block/return for a tie.
Clearly there is no way that AB doesn't take all of the blame on this, as he should. But given he was so close to performance incentives it does give me a little pause that his story may have a little validity. Why would he want to sit if he wasn't hurt? He's buddies with Brady, why would he piss him off too? That part just doesn't make much sense to me. He's 100% accountable for how he acted but taking Arians possibly trying to get a player who says he is hurt to play as a completely separate issue paints him in a bad light too.
On top of all this……if there was an injury it is protocol for Brown to alert the medical staff who would then make the determination on his status and alert Arians of Brown’s availability.
You could fill in the blanks of "Why would AB want to ________?" in a dozen different ways but the answer is the same each time. Who the hell knows. He's been pulling stupid shit for a few years now. As for painting Arians in a bad light, he didn't hesitate to do it to Kraft. He seems to be a talented football player, but also a garden variety POS. I dont think its any more complicated than that.
And if Ben Volin says "lets not jump to conclusions on AB," then you can probably put on your jumping shoes.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/01/03/sports/nfl-week-17-lets-not-jump-conclusions-antonio-brown-case/
I mean, you really think anyone gives a shit about $1mm in potential performance incentives? In a story about AB, this is a take that makes the absolute least sense of anything.
As far as any chance of returning to the Bucs or any other team, I strongly suspect that the NFL will have a well deserved suspension in store for AB. His dancing and prancing on the way off the field probably speaks to how badly injured he was. Besides, even if injured, he's a hell of a decoy, probably drawing 2 defenders.
What are you suspending him for? Uniform violation? At most that's a fine.
The real interesting thing will be if the union files a grievance against TB
He is 33 years old, his last season where he put up elite numbers was 2018, he comes with both off the field and now on the field baggage, and was last seen leaving his teammates to try to win an important game without him, while he couldnt resist the urge to go out in a blaze of glory like a jackass. The NFL should be done with him, but who the fuck knows in this league.
I mean... maybe? On the other hand you could say..... he's cheap and put up basically the same per-game numbers as Chris Godwin on lower snap%, and he tried to gut it out in an important game and couldn't go after a while, then his noted hothead coach said he was cut for not playing injured and he had an outburst.
It's all about how you frame it.
The idea that a productive Antonio Brown out there committing felonies has offers, but one who didn't play a half doesn't seems either unlikely or a pretty amazing indictment of the league.
As long as Tampa pays out any contract guarantees, a union grievance will go nowhere.
depends, he might have a case for the incentives as well
Edit- I bet TB quietly pays him part of the incentive to go away and not drag Arians through the mud all playoffs
Don’t get me wrong, I think Tampa giving him another chance was crazy to begin with and I was happy when the Pats cut him. It is an amazing indictment of the league that it would take this.
Also this isn’t some guy who has had bad injury luck, he keeps shooting himself in the foot over and over again. He can’t be counted on, which sadly for the NFL probably matters more than his off the field accusations. But it would not surprise me if he gets another shot.
You can frame it however you want. NFL players are hurt all of the time and I’m sure there are situations where coaches are frustrated over a player not being able to go. Yes Arians is a hot head but I cannot recall another situation like this, and if you had to pick one player who this might happen to AB is at the top of the list. He deserves no benefit of the doubt.
Anyway Shefter is saying they haven’t released him yet. I’m guessing due to sorting out the injury situation and negotiating some sort of settlement. But we shall see:
View: https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/1478130220075040770?s=21
I think a fake vaccination card and three game suspension is on AB. So fuck him and any case for incentives. Can't do the time, don't do the crime. Buh bye.
And if they had cut him then.... sure.
They didn't, they let him rehab, come back, then allegedly tried to cut him for saying his injury was bothering him too much to go back in.
People seem to think that criticizing the Bucs is "taking AB's side" it isn't, it's acknowledging that just because we don't like AB doesn't mean we should accept mistreatment of players by coaches/teams if what is being claimed is true.