Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Tom Brady and Antonio Brown saga
By Rob Leeds
Antonio Brown experienced one of the most unceremonious falls from grace that any player of his caliber could. Brown was a consistent top-10 player in the league when he was on, but all of that melted away due to character issues.
Brown was a force of nature during the mid-2010s as a route runner, special teams contributor, and an all-around offensive powerhouse. Opposing defenses had to thoroughly prepare their game-plan around Brown, which was saying something with the other offensive players considered.
During the 2018 season, Brown’s antics became a bit more erratic, and after several arguments and public outbursts, Brown demanded a trade. Brown never played a snap with his new team, the Oakland Raiders, and the personal eruptions continued at a rate that was quickly overshadowing Brown’s achievements on the field.
Enter Tom Brady and the Patriots. As much of the league feared, once Brown was released from Oakland, Brown was signed by the New England Patriots even with an ongoing sexual investigation. Brady immediately took Brown under his wing, which is the main reason why AB is playing in Tampa Bay now.
Eventually, the allegations became too much for the Patriots to overlook, and Brown was released after just one game with Tom Brady, but the connection was already set by then.