Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians has been relatively quiet since stepping down as head coach of the Bucs. Recently, the no risk it, no biscuit coach was interviewed on the radio.
Arians was asked the Antonio Brown situation and how his time in Tampa ended. Rather than going in on Brown, Arians was complimentary of the All-Pro wide receiver.
“Great player, great player. Practices hard and plays as hard as anybody I ever coached. I wish him well. He had a great — a big, big part in us getting that ring. The next season, obviously, didn’t work out so well. He was a big, big part in us winning the championship.”
By now we’ve all heard about Brown’s strip tease and dance act as he left the field in a game in New York. After Brown’s sideshow he lobbed accusations of Arians forcing him to play injured. This despite the fact that Brown appeared to be fine earlier in the game and shortly before the incident. Arians refuted the accusations.
“At no point in time during that game did he ever ask the trainer or a doctor about his ankle. That’s the normal protocol – you go through protocols during games. I was never notified of it. So, obviously, that was the disturbing thing when we were looking for him to go back into the game. He was very upset at halftime about who was getting targeted. We got that calmed down, the players took care of that.
Arians went on.
“It started again on the sideline. We called for the personnel group that he had played in the entire game, and he refused to go into the game. That’s when I looked back and saw him basically wave off the coach. I then went back and approached him about what was going on. ‘I ain’t playing.’ ‘What’s going on?’ ‘I ain’t getting the ball.’ That’s when I said, ‘You’re done. Get the ‘eff’ out of here.’ That’s the end of it. We are working on Carolina.”
It’s safe to say the majority of people believed Arians over Brown. The accusations Brown made with little merit were done it seems out of malice. Arians has always taken the high road, even if most wouldn’t have.
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