There will only be 25,000 fans at Raymond James Stadium for the Super Bowl, so if you listen carefully, you might hear Antonio Brown applauding. Antonio would like you to know that he went through a lot, OK? He dealt with media criticism (for several reports of sexual assault, including rape and sexual misconduct and his attempts to intimidate someone who came forward.) That was harsh for Antonio!
And then there were the haters (who pointed out that along with the assault reports, he was sued for throwing furniture from a condo balcony on the 14th floor and hitting almost a 22-month-old man and a grandfather he was walking down the street – he reached an undisclosed deal with the family). So ugly! And, of course, there were teams that gave up on him, such as the Steelers (who changed him after he tried to set the organization on fire) and the Raiders (who cut him off after he tried to set up that organization on fire) and the Patriots (who tried to sign him at cheap prices and then cut him off because he harassed a woman who came before.) How rude of them!
Tim Fuller / SUA TODAY Sports
The Steelers, Raiders and Patriots are not playing in this Super Bowl, but Brown is for the Buccaneers. And for that, Antonio Brown is “grateful.”
He said that word, grateful, much on Wednesday during the availability of Super Bowl Zoom: “I am extremely grateful to be here with my colleagues, preparing me … extremely grateful … it is a blessing to be here … very grateful.” That would be a great attitude from someone who overcame cancer or had to play in the Canadian Football League for five years before finally getting a chance in the NFL. He felt different from Brown.
Brown has the right to defend himself. But she seems to think she’s a victim and she’s not. His list of sins is long. If Brown has learned anything in recent years, he takes us into account. If he realizes his own failures, he will still not admit any of them.
“I would do a favor if I talked about things that are not a central point of this game,” he said on Wednesday.
There is a time and place for this type of response – like a few years ago, when rival corners Darrelle Revis and Richard Sherman both reached the Super Bowl, and Revis made it clear that he did not want the whole week to be a battle of words between they two. But Brown’s words were both awful and laughable, coming from a guy who once played a live Steelers post-playoff speech in the locker room. Basically, he boycotted the Raiders training camp because he wanted to wear an outdated helmet and got into a confrontation with a Raiders coach and general manager. And these things are much less worrying than reports of a serious personal misconduct.
There is literally no one on the team who believes that Brown is doing a “disservice” by saying that he is sorry for his past behavior or that his problems were caused by him.
Brown said he worked to control his emotions. And he said a year ago that “I think I owe the whole NFL an apology [for my past behavior]. I could have done a lot better. He said then that he is “the child with problems, the guy who has problems” and that bothered him.
He could have said that again on Wednesday. He could have even made those vague, narrow excuses that seem to address only his actions in the locker room. Instead, he left the persistent suspicion that he said all this a year ago just because he was looking for a job – and now he has one, so it doesn’t bother you.
“I’ve been through a few things, but that’s life,” Brown said Wednesday. “We all have a story. We must all allow ourselves to grow for our own betterment. I’m just grateful for the trip. ”
Brown was not banned from the NFL and was not permanently blacklisted, as he once appeared. It was not signed by anyone after it was released by the Patriots in September 2019 because an NFL investigation was underway; he executed an eight-game suspension to start 2020, linked to a no-contest plea for burglary and battery charging in a January incident and harassment of a woman who filed a sexual abuse lawsuit. But this has not been linked to sexual assault accounts, for which he is still facing a civil lawsuit (a trial is currently scheduled for December). He found a franchise willing to take a relatively small risk for a Hall of Fame talent, thanks in part to a star defender (Tom Brady) who had befriended him and wanted him on the team.
But, refusing to admit that he did something wrong, let alone show any contrition, Brown looked and sounded like a guy who thought he was being persecuted. Maybe that was just the facade he put up on Wednesday. But if that’s how it really feels, there will be uglier chapters. If it thinks it doesn’t need to change, it will cause more damage.
He framed everything in terms of football. He said he learned “this game can be taken anytime”, as if this is the big lesson here. We can only imagine Roger Goodell’s reaction to this quote from Brown after he was asked about Goodell and said he hadn’t spoken to the commissioner lately: “I think [the league] he did a good job in helping me get to this point. I was very grateful to have the opportunity to resume my career again. ”
If Brown thinks Goodell’s goal was to help Brown resume his career, this would be good news for Goodell.
“I want my legacy to be a guy who has been persistent, a guy who has never given up, no matter the odds, no matter the hatred,” Brown said. “A sixth-round kid from central Michigan who never gave up. A guy who had the will of a champion. ”
He was indeed selected in the sixth round of central Michigan and it is true that he never gave up and could soon be champion. But life after football comes, faster than Brown thinks. He avoided questions on Wednesday. That doesn’t mean he’s leaving.