TAMPA — Bucs receiver Antonio Brown obtained a fake COVID-19 vaccination card so he could avoid NFL protocols, according to his former live-in chef.
Brown’s girlfriend, model Cydney Moreau, told Los Angeles chef Steven Ruiz in a text message July 2 that Brown was willing to pay $500 if he could get a Johnson & Johnson vaccination card.
“Can you get the COVID cards?” Moreau texted Ruiz on July 2, according to a screen grab he provided to the Tampa Bay Times.
“I can try,” Ruiz responded.
“JNJ shot. Ab said he would give you $500,” Moreau texted.
The text exchange between Moreau and Ruiz does not refer to Brown by name. The wide receiver is often called A.B. by friends, coaches and teammates.
The wide receiver and his personal chef fell out over an uncollected debt. Ruiz, who owns Taste ThatLA, says he is owed $10,000. He spoke publicly for the first time about Brown after trying unsuccessfully to extract a settlement from the Super Bowl champion Bucs and after talks with Brown’s lawyer went nowhere.
Ruiz said he was unable back in July to find a fake vaccination card for Brown, who had told those around him that he was worried about the vaccine’s potential negative effects on his body. A few weeks later, however, Ruiz said Brown showed him fake vaccination cards, which the wide receiver told Ruiz he had purchased for himself and Moreau. They were sitting on Brown’s dining room table, Ruiz said. It was just days before the start of Bucs training camp.
Alex Guerrero, a personal trainer and co-founder of TB12 with Tom Brady, arrived at Brown’s house the same night to help the 33-year-old Pro Bowler recover from knee surgery. According to Ruiz, Guerrero took a photograph of Brown’s vaccination card while he was there.
To document the list of vaccinated players as quickly as possible, the Bucs would sometimes have Guerrero or others in the organization photograph the cards to send to head trainer Bobby Slater and eventually to their infection control officer.
Ruiz said he believes Guerrero was unaware the card was fake.
