After leaving during the third quarter against the Jets on Sunday, former Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown asked state troopers for a ride to the airport but was told “no,” per ESPN’s Jenna Laine. Laine also reported that Brown was not flying back with the team.
Later, driver Danny Chalet made several posts on his Instagram story that show him on FaceTime with Brown and showed him driving Brown. Chalet said the two were in New York. This all follows a bizarre sequence in which Brown left in the middle of the third quarter against the Jets on Sunday.
Brown removed his helmet, pads and threw his shirt into the stands before running to the locker room while giving the peace sign to fans in the third quarter of the game. He did not return. After Tampa Bay’s 28–24 win, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians told reporters Brown was no longer with the team.
“He is no longer a Buc, alright?” Arians said in his press conference. “That’s the end of the story. Let’s talk about the guys that went out there and won the game.”
While Bucs sideline reporter TJ Rives originally reported that Brown was benched, Fox Sports’s Jay Glazer said Arians tried to get Brown into the game but Brown refused and when Arians tried again and Brown refused a second time, the head coach asked him to leave.
During his shirtless exit, he was also briefly mistaken as a fan by security, per Fox and ESPN.
Correction: An earlier version of this article cited an erroneous Fox Sports report that Brown had been escorted to the airport by police. In fact, he reportedly requested that state troopers drive him to the airport but was denied.
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