Patriots clinch playoffs, Antonio Brown goes bonkers, Bengals take North

Antonio Brown goes awol at the Meadowlands

With all the great games going on in Week 17, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown managed to steal the show after leaving the field during the team’s victory over the New York Jets.

Well, that is former Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown, who may have played his last game in the NFL with this odd behavior during the third quarter of the Buccaneers-Jets game:

Tampa Bay was down to the Jets 24-10 at the time of Brown decided to take off his pads and quit on the team.

What led to AB turning his back on his teammates?

That is the million-dollar question as Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians simply said following the game, “he is no longer a Buc.  That’s the end of the story.”

Perhaps, it is the end of the Antonio Brown story in the NFL.  While Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champions rallied back to beat the Jets, the question is what happens to the offense now that Brown is no longer part of the picture.

As far as the New England Patriots connection to this story, Brown played one game with the team in 2019 before he was released by the team for off-the-field behavior.

When asked about Brown during his appearance on “The Greg Hill Show” Monday morning, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick addressed the issue of mental health in the sports and in life.

"“That’s important for all of us,” the Patriots coach said, via WEEI.  “We have a number of people who are involved in one way or another in that area.  Certainly our medical staff.  But, you know, there’s an awareness from other people in the organization – coaches and other staff members, and so forth.  Each one of us is different, each one of us is unique.  We try to have a team structure, and we have to work individually with guys as stuff comes up.”"

While this latest Antonio Brown saga will ripple its way through NFL headlines the next few weeks, the issue of mental health must take center stage over talent, as it has with players such as Atlanta Falcons talented wide receiver Calvin Ridley.