Antonio Brown is continuing his tour of lashing out at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brown, along with his attorney, Sean Burstyn, did an interview for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” which airs Tuesday night. In the interview, the 33-year-old receiver alleged the Buccaneers offered him $200,000 to go to the “crazy house.”
“You seemed to resent the feelings of so many former coaches and teammates that you were in need of mental assistance. Does that bother you?” Gumbel asked.
Burstyn stepped in to give the first answer.
“To the extent any of that is coming from a spin that Antonio had a spontaneous mental episode, it’s resentful and it’s hurtful and it’s a disservice to people who do suffer from mental health challenges. We all have our difficulties — Antonio, myself, everybody …,” he said.
Brown then interjected, “Yeah, these guys at Tampa Bay Bucs tried to make an agreement with me to give me $200,000 to go to the crazy house so these guys could look like they know what they’re talking about.”
Gumbel questioned what he was offered $200,000 for.
“The offer was Antonio would basically sit on the sidelines, go on some list — and commit himself to some form of intensive mental health treatment,” Burstyn said. “And we were specifically told, in writing, by the general manager, twice, ‘Don’t spin this any other way.’”
Asked if he needs mental health treatment of any kind, Brown said, “I have mental wealth. A lot of people may not understand me or know how I look at things or don’t know how I react emotionally to things. It’s not for them to understand me. I have a beautiful family and kids across the world who look up to me.”
In the interview, Brown also categorically denied coach Bruce Arians’ assertions that the wide receiver did not tell him about his ankle injury during the game, in which he left shirtless in the third quarter. Further, Brown said he received shots of Toradol, a painkilling injection, before both the Jets game on Jan. 2 and the Panthers matchup the week before.
Gumbel asked Brown if, given his past, that it’s “any wonder” people doubt his credibility.
“I mean, this ain’t about no past and no credibility,” Brown said. “It’s about a player getting treated unfairly and unjustly.”
