Tom Brady has been an excellent friend to Antonio Brown. He arguably saved the troubled wideout’s NFL career and even invited him into his home on at least two occasions.
As repayment, Brown is taking swipes at Brady whenever he can.
The latest salvo came Monday via Instagram, one of Brown’s favorite platforms for slinging shade. In a post, Brown shared an X-ray image of his injured ankle from last October. He predictably ripped the Buccaneers, saying they tried to hurt him “intentionally.” But then he lumped Brady into the mess.
“Tom said he would throw it if I came to play hurt I came,” Brown wrote. “He didn't throw it imagine being hurt having to play through this and being lied too [sic].”
This is the second time in as many months that Brown has criticized Brady for not throwing him the ball, even though Brady targeted Brown more than anybody else on the team on a per-pass basis. Previously, Brown ripped Brady — whom he called the Buccaneers’ de-facto general manager — for making him play on an incentive-laden deal.
“To say someone's my friend -- I'm out here getting 'prove it' type contracts where I'm out here, they got me trying to earn a million dollars to make some type of catches," Brown said in January. "So to say you're my friend -- I shouldn't be playing on those types of deals when I just came with you and won the Super Bowl.”
Brown’s venom towards Brady stands in stark contrast to the support that Brady offered him when he stripped off his uniform mid-game and abandoned the Bucs. In his postgame press conference, Brady advocated for compassion.
“I think everybody should hopefully do what they can to help him in ways that he really needs it,” he told reporters. “We all love him. We care about him deeply. We want to see him be at his best.”
It’s apparent Brown isn’t at his best right now, and hasn’t been for many years. His erratic behavior is dizzying.
Just four weeks ago, Brown denied to HBO host Bryant Gumble he has any beef with Brady.
In a vacuum, Brown’s complaints against the Buccaneers appear to have some merit. The X-ray image from October — which has now been deleted, like many of Brown’s social media screeds — shows he first injured his ankle in Week 6. Brown proceeded to miss the next eight games before returning for a Week 15 contest against the Panthers, in which he caught 10 passes for 101 yards. The following week, Brown stormed off. He says it’s because Bruce Arians was forcing him to play through pain.
But then again, Brown’s now-deleted complaints about targets match up with Arians’ explanation of events. Tampa Bay’s head coach said the seven-time Pro Bowler was dissatisfied with his role in the offense.
Brady’s outreach towards Brown is probably based on more than benevolence. After all, Brown remains one of the more talented receivers in the game, and helped the Buccaneers win their Super Bowl last year.
But Brady’s public support of Brown didn’t stop once he received his seventh ring. It continued last season through the dark times.
And now, Brown keeps dragging himself down further, intent on bringing Brady with him.
