To many fans, Antonio Brown is a tragic story of a player who was supremely talented but couldn’t get out of his own way.
Several years ago, he was one of the NFL’s best wide receivers while with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they started to tire of his antics and traded him to the Oakland Raiders in 2019.
He lasted a short amount of time with Oakland and didn’t even play in a regular season game with them, and even though the New England Patriots picked him up that September, Brown appeared in just one game for them.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a flyer on him the following year, and he did well enough to pick up a Super Bowl ring that season, but he took off his jersey and ran off the field during a 2021 contest, which led to the Bucs releasing him at the end of the season.
On Friday, Brown released direct messages Brady had sent him, reportedly in an attempt to make Brady seem like the bad guy, but all it apparently did was make Brady seem like a good leader who tried to believe in him.
Photo: Antonio Brown has released private DMs from Tom Brady.
It’s not the first time @AB84 has done this, while he’s trying to paint Brady in a bad light, these DMs actually show Brady attempting to help Brown as a friend.
“When you aren’t feeling great, call me!” pic.twitter.com/46PZnKPwjD
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 23, 2022
Fans across the NFL community on Twitter praised Brady for his patience and leadership while showing no sympathy for Brown.
Tom Brady was such a good friend to Antonio Brown.
That’s why it’s so sad to watch Brown turn his back on him pic.twitter.com/tuKdcmHZEf
— Savage (@SavageSports_) December 23, 2022
Why is Antonio Brown making me like Tom Brady…
— Cameron Magruder (@ScooterMagruder) December 23, 2022
Not exactly sure what Antonio Brown is trying to prove here because all I see is Tom Brady trying to help him out.
— Andy Kwong (@akwong31) December 23, 2022
This actually makes me a Tom Brady Fan.
Not as a player, but as a damn responsible & kind human being that is willing to help those in need.
I don’t hate or want to vilify Antonio Brown, but instead feel bad for the road that he has willingly taken. I hope the guy gets help.
— Andrew B (@AGaggleOfKids) December 23, 2022
Some have speculated that Brown may be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after taking a hard hit to the head during the 2016 NFL Playoffs and that it has caused his bizarre and disruptive behavior over the last few years.
Whenever Antonio Brown is trending on Twitter, I just always assume it’s some wild CTE-induced manic episode
…but today it’s just screenshots he posted of Tom Brady being a good dude.
— Alex Hoy (@DatBoiHoy) December 23, 2022
According to neurologists, CTE cannot be diagnosed in living people, but because of Brown’s many incidents, people will continue to speculate.
