Tampa Bay Buccaneers Release Antonio Brown

TAMPA, Fla. (KDKA/AP) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released Antonio Brown after he took off his jersey, pads and undershirt in the middle of a game and went to the locker room.

Brown, who said an ankle injury was his breaking point, was cleared to play, never notified medical personnel and has refused treatment by an outside orthopedic specialist multiple times, the Bucs said in a statement Thursday.

Brown and Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians have different accounts of what happened in Sunday's game against the New York Jets.

In a statement released through his agent on Wednesday to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Brown said he received a painkiller shot in his ankle before the game.

"I played until it was clear that I could not use my ankle to safely perform my playing responsibilities," Brown said in the statement. "On top of that, the pain was extreme."

Brown said he then sat on the sideline and told coach Bruce Arians that his ankle was injured. He claims Arians "ordered" him to get off the field and did not call for medical attention.

After the Bucs announced they were releasing Brown, Arians disputed Brown's side of the story.

"Just to clear you up on some things that happened: at no point in time during that game did he ever ask the trainer or doctor about his ankle. That's the normal protocol. You go through protocols during games. I was never notified of it," said Arians. "So obviously that was a disturbing thing when we were looking for him to go back into the game."

Arians said Brown then got "very upset" at halftime about who was getting targeted.

"Got that calmed down, players took care of that. Started again on the sideline, we called for the personnel group that he had played in the entire game. He refused to go into the game, that's when I looked back and saw him basically wave off the coach," Arians said.

Arians said he then approached Brown about what was going on, told him he was done and to "get the f out of there."

"We're working on Carolina. That's the end of the story," Arians said. "Hope it ends today."

Brown spent the first nine seasons of his career in Pittsburgh. He was traded to the Raiders in 2019 and has been cut from every team since.

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