Retired Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David explained that the writing was on the wall leading up to Antonio Brown’s bizarre exit midway through a game against the Jets at MetLife Stadium in 2022.
The former NFL wideout, who was visibly frustrated on the sideline, ripped off his shoulder pads, and tossed his gloves and shirt into the crowd before he ran shirtless through the end zone to the locker room.
During Tuesday’s installment of the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, David recalled the incident and explained that it was clear Brown “might snap soon” because he was “pissed off” in the locker room at halftime.
“I tell you this, bro, leading up to that, you saw it stirring up, you saw it brewing,” said David, who retired after 14 NFL seasons, all with Tampa Bay, last week. “He came one day, like we were in there or whatever, we were in the locker room, we were chilling in the locker room. He came in there, he was complaining… about how I think he didn’t score a touchdown or whatever.
“And I’m like, ‘Bro, you had over 100 yards, what’re you talking about?’ He [was] just like, pissed off. You can see he might snap soon.”
David also recalled being asked by Bucs brass to help calm Brown down because he was “going crazy” in a walk-through practice.
“He was just sprinting, catching the ball and throwing it at people, cursing people out… going off on coaches… So that game [against the Jets], I wasn’t surprised in a sense.”
David added that Brown “kind of messed up [the Bucs’] chances” at going to back-to-back Super Bowls after Tampa Bay defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in the 2021 Super Bowl. The team ended up going 8-9 and losing in the wild-card round to the Cowboys.
“… To be honest with you, man, AB kind of messed up our chances of going to that second Super Bowl because he was that dude,” David said. “He was a really good football player. When you rub him the wrong way you’re going to get AB or Antonio Brown and that day, it was AB.”
David said he never spoke to Brown about the incident, and that he saw him at a Miami Heat game that offseason.
“He was talking like nothing ever happened and I didn’t want to bring it up because it might trigger him again… I think he wanted the ball more but I think it stemmed from something much deeper,” David said.
“… He probably wanted to be a higher-paid guy but he didn’t get that and I think they ended up giving [Rob Gronkowski] more money than him and I guess he felt a type of way about that.”
The Bucs’ head coach at the time, Bruce Arians, said after the game at MetLife Stadium that Brown was no longer a member of the team, and he was formally released a few days later.
Brown hasn’t played in the NFL since.
He was involved in numerous incidents off the field that soured his playing career.
