Bucs Coach On Antonio Brown Ending: “It Was Too Quick And Too Severe”
February 1st, 2022
Antonio Brown
It seems not everyone at One Buc Palace was happy with how Antonio Brown was handled on the Buccaneers’ sidelines during that wacky afternoon against the miserable New York Jets.
With the Bucs season over, different perspectives on the notorious blowup that ended with Brown prancing off the field topless are sure to emerge.
And Bucs quarterback coach Clyde Christensen let one loose on CBS Sports Radio today.
“I just hate that it escalated so fast,” Christensen said of the Brown-Bruce Arians sideline eruption and Brown’s exit from the field and the team. “I just think that, you know, everyone’s uptight as those games go on, especially receivers. Anyone who’s been on an NFL sideline knows how intense that can get.
“I think this one escalated and the thing that was so sad to me about it was that we didn’t even get between a series. It was in the middle of a series that you saw a career end, or whatever happened, in the middle of two plays. It wasn’t like Tom [Brady] could come over and sit down and talk with [Brown]. Or Byron Leftwich or a lot of teammates that have known him for a long, long time. I think that the sad part to me was that it escalated so fast and just, you know, it was too quick and too severe and I wish we had had a chance for cooler heads to prevail and talk through it and work through it. … I think the severity of how the way it ended, it just happened too quick. I wish it would have been different.”
Christensen said he was unaware of any halftime issue with Brown on that Sunday and added Brown is “wired tight, which is what makes him so great and sometimes it can be a two-edged sword.”
He praised Brown for his practice habits with the Bucs and noted what an “asset” he was to the team.
Joe found it very interesting to hear Christensen’s choice of words and how he believes everything escalated too quickly between Brown and Arians. It sounded like Christensen believes if his old coaching buddy had relaxed and let Brady and Leftwich handle Brown, then the Bucs would have had their star receiver through the remainder of the season.
Joe is not saying Christensen threw Arians under the bus here, but he certainly expressed that a different approach by the head coach might have been in the best interest of the team.
Perhaps Tom Brady felt the same way.
February 1st, 2022 at 11:47 pm
Arians should escalate the same way with his coaches.
February 1st, 2022 at 11:56 pm
Arians should even get credit for the SB.
Brady revamped the entire offense and threw out Lefty’s and Arians old crusty 4 vert.
Anyone who thinks Arians, Bowles and Leftwich played more than bit parts is in denial.
And Jason Licht is a good GM….buwahahahahahahaha
February 1st, 2022 at 11:56 pm
SHOULD NOT GET CREDIT
February 1st, 2022 at 11:57 pm
That is the same word I used to describe the situation: escalate.
Antonio Brown us a but case, but when you deal with crazy, you don’t escalate the episode, you find a way to de-esculate. That’s on Bruce Arians. He stiooped to Brown’s level. Low EQ coach, helping doon the season.
February 1st, 2022 at 11:58 pm
… is a head case
I hate autocorrect
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:04 am
20/20 hindsight.
This is on Brown, not anybody else.
It is part of him and he has a long track record of crazy.
Anybody ever date a hot but crazy girl? De-escalate in a public space can be impossible.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:04 am
AB was the one who escalated He impulsed and threw off his clothes and said no more only so much ass kissing the team can do to keep AB happy The situation could of been different if AB acted correctly but he didn’t–this is not BA’s fault I would look to Todd Bowles being at fault for Brady retiring. TB12 brings em back to overtime and Bowles calls as usual a dumb ass play thereby losing the game. Too frustrating to have to deal with.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:21 am
Licht built a superbowl team and has been the best gm in the league three years running. Not a chance in hell that Brady comes here without the work that Licht put in. Arian’s is over qualified for the hall of fame considering some of the coaches that have already been inducted. Brown is a serial d-bag that has burnt every football bridge that he has walked over. Good riddance weirdo. I laugh whenever I read that Licht or Arian’s are bad at their jobs. LOL, you can’t make this drivel up. Scoreboard dudes.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:27 am
How was he gonna be with us for the remainder of the season if he himself said that his ankle wasn’t healthy. He claims he needs surgery. So again I asked, what was he going to do for us?
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:40 am
I watched Mike Evans go to AB he tried but it was too late the switch had flipped AB pivoted and headed to the stands the look on his he was gone
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:40 am
Licht won the Brady Powerball
Built a super bowl team
You people can’t be this stupid…I take that back.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:54 am
T Rex
Stop listening to the ignorant Talking Heads on ESPN.
The offense came from BA & BL and then BL and Brady worked on it over the last two years incorporating more ideas. I don’t understand why you and some others on here refuse to believe BA, BL and Brady. This is what the have said. For some reason you think you know better and think they are lying. It’s ridiculous
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:01 am
ROFL, stupid is believing that Brady is the sole reason for our teams success or maybe just another troll from that sh!thole up north trying to be funny. If it’s the later, it’s working since I’m giggling like an idiot while typing this. 😜
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:09 am
This is what I said wks ago..
When Bellicheat benched Malcolm Butler before Eagles-Pats SB; in Brady’s Press conf -he said he still considered Malcolm his friend.. Thats when Brady lost respect for Belicheat because he did it for selfish/ego/vendetta reason–not because it was best for the team. Brady & many others felt thats why Pats lost SB
VERY similar to AB & “bucco”‘ ; afterwards Brady said ” Brown was still his friend” . bucco escalated it for his personal dislike/ego/vendetta for phony vax card–not because it was best for the team. Brady then lost respect for bucco..
despite Bowles blitz stuborness-we dam near won that Rams game. With AB-it would not have been that close..
Lastly JOE ; who was Tom talking about when he said 3 wks ago that ” it was a time to focus.it was not a time to go to the movies”
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:16 am
Mike Evans tried, but I believe it was this site that noted no one else bothered with AB. It’s a telling quote for sure, and I imagine the stress of this burnt TB12 out, but I don’t think BA was wrong at all
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:41 am
I think it’s a fair question as to why weren’t they playing AB more in that game in the 1st half?
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:44 am
Save The Licht House….GM brady is gone…AB’s are not team players…loved the Arians ouster. Proper!
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:45 am
2009
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:43 am
Swa,pbuc 2009
not even close to 2009
Let’s see a Head Coach with a +600% Record versus Raheem, never coached a game, and a team that was a few years past a playoff. No not the same
BA has winning record with 3 teams, and the Bucs will be fine, NOT Brady fine but they will land on their feet,
GO BUCS!!!!!
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:00 am
Everyone makes the mistake of believing that somehow talented individuals with serious mental instability can be cajoled and managed, and that it is worth the risk. Brady pushed hard for AB, and so did others, including Russell Wilson. Well it blew up in this team’s face, and cost them a SB.
The AB fiasco is another ugly piece of Brady’s exit that will live forever and we will hear about forever.
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:08 am
If it wasn’t this, it would have been something else. He’s an unstable person.
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:12 am
Enough ot that. No one has to share the blame for that situation but Brown himself. Not Arians, not Brady, not the medical stuff. Enough already. Is not like this was the first time Brown did something like that or the second time. Every time he says something you can see who is to blame. Come on now stop making excuses and try to blame others because they didnt do this or they didnt do that or they could have handled it different. Just stop, its over and it is clear that there is only one person responsible for what happenned.
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:35 am
There’s is an old saying that you can’t let the inmates run the asylum. If BA had backed down after the confrontation ,then I believe it would have had a lasting
effect on team discipline. AB chose the way his time with the Bucs ended in a dramatic exit from the field. Its a team game and he quit on his teammates and the team that gave him a chance to rejuvenate his career.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:04 am
T-Rex – the new resident troll.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:09 am
Joe I took his comments differently he’s not blaming BA at all.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:15 am
I think the whole vax card suspension issue was mishandled by BA, he should have stood by his player in the media and let him know he was a member of the team after the suspension instead of saying “we’ll see”(Which the coach should have blasted the length of if in the media to show his player support). im not saying what AB did was right but as a team we really needed him. not a big fan of either party but the ultimate goal is to win a superbowl.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:17 am
We now know Brown plotted his departure, according to his ho…
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:34 am
Uhh, sorry but the escalation could also mean AB pouting about other players getting the ball instead of him and sitting on the bench and refusing to play. What, we need kid gloves to handle that cancer? Nothing changed since 2020 with the way Tom distributes the ball, except Gronk got back into football shape. The point is wins and losses, not personal stats.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:38 am
BA is the head coach…..its not for others to handle the situation during a game….the way AB publicly exited the game should tell you all you need to know.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:55 am
A lot of valid points on the board here. Anyone who has ever managed people knows how infuriating it is to have a straight up insubordinate employee, no matter how talented.
Oh yeah, and his ankle needs surgery, right??
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:58 am
I think it was the right thing to do, but I understand Clyde’s point about it being a jolt to the system. This was probably something that would have stopped us from going to the super bowl weather he was on the team or not. Either a jolt to the system or a cancer eating the team from the inside out. It’s still a price I am happy to pay for the Super Bowl we got last year.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:02 am
Hey – AB blew himself up.
But if AB made it thru year , we are probably playing in super bowl in a few weeks
Just the way it goes…sucks. With Tom we could have won back to back
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:03 am
And there you have it. BA old and out of touch. Went up Brady’s arse sideways. Another reason he shouldn’t be coaching. I’m actually surprised BA didn’t take a swing at him, apparently that’s page 4 in his coaching handbook after playing hurt player, throwing players under the bus and firing players on the sideline he can’t fire. Page 5 & 6 is don’t show up for work and avoid accountability. There’s your reason Bucs fans, confirmed bad coaching staff.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:36 am
I can blame BA for a lot of things, but not Browns melt down. The guy is a flaming lunitic, should’ve found his replacement last offseason, and not even brought him back. Gruden, and Thomlin couldn’t handle him either. Clyde sounds like an enabler. Glad he’s not HC, he’d let the lunitic run the nut house.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:44 am
Joe you are just trying to be diplomatic. Christensen’s comments speak for themselves and strongly imply BA handled it poorly in his opinion. He did throw the HC under the bus and will likely suffer repercussions because of it. That’s too bad. He is a good coach. It is Bowles who should suffer repercussions as he is the reason the Bucs are not in the SB right now.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:57 am
Quick question for Buccaneers fans, take everything that AB did, lie at the beginning of the season, get caught, won’t pay his chef, cheat on his kids mom, bring a women with C19 into his hotel for a hookup breaking team hotel rules, asking for his bonus to be partly paid out a few catches early, getting into verbal altercation with coach on sideline, embarrassing team running out in anger mid game. Take all those things, was it better to force him out after that game, and cut him, then to have had AB for Rams games a game lost by 1 FG, and be playing in SB No2, with TB not considering retiring as he is about to win 2nd SB v. Joe Burrow, and his offence and the team still looks unstoppable and isn’t about to go into a rebuild.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:04 am
Much of the problems are 100% on AB, but my question is are SBs worth cheating for like the patriots did, are they worth employing bad people or former criminals for like NE has, are they worth letting a star make a temporary mockery of your team for, but keeping him to win? Are SB worth accepting diva like behaviour and crazy personalities or request from the GM if the star player is producing or is needed to win a SB?
If AB antics were almost any other player other then a few super stars, unquestionably he gone, if Chris wasn’t hurt, he’s gone, if he wasn’t producing he’s gone. But if he was on the team in the Rams v. Bucs game, Bucs are in the SB, and yes AB likely would’ve done something annoying during SB week to make team look crazy or himself. But are SB worth keeping insane players, cheaters, and bad people on your roster? From an financial perspective the Bucs organization went up in value at least 1billion from the last SB, and this second one even if they lost would’ve cemented Tampa as an all time great NFL organization with 3 titles or 2 titles and 3 SB runs in 20y.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:15 am
@BA4President
I’ve dealt with crazies, both as a manager and as someone who counseled troubled teens. The former is more challenging as in the workplace you sometimes need them to help complete the project at hand. I’ve dealt with folks who were substance abusers or suffering from bipolar disorders, paranoid schizophrenia, and manic depression. With the exception of the paranoid schizophrenic, you do your best to de-escalate the situation. That means taking command of your own frustrations (imagine being in charge of a “death march” for a software deliverable that, if it fails, means the plug is pulled on the company). You keep your own emotions in check and either walk away, have a trusted coworker do an intervention or find a way to “time out” the employee.
I know emotions were running high, the Bucs had already lost Godwin and the team was fighting a tough game for a decent playoff berth. But that is exactly the time to not lower yourself to the level of the person acting crazy. That takes restraint and what pop culture now calls a high “EQ”.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:26 am
Yes, because insubordination at work should be condoned and the subordinate should be coddled.
I know it works for me. Every time I refuse to do something that my boss instructs me to do, he takes me out for ice cream and we wind up singing Kumbaya.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:28 am
Who the hell cares why he thinks, Tom Brady shouldn’t have to come sit with that idiot in the middle of a game because he doesn’t want to play. If he was to hurt to play go in the tent and seek treatment. That was a stupid answer Clyde, everyone else except AB has to act like an adult?
Would Brady have stayed another year if that idiot finished the season without his drama ? Don’t really care now because his selfishness torpedoed the team and I hope ab gets buried in court
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:52 am
Coaching was weakest part if the team as i always said. Any close game we would lose bc of stupidity. Plain out stupid call in last 40 s of rams game
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:57 am
I didn’t hear that in those comments, Joe. I heard that in the heat of the game, and because there wasn’t time for guys like Brady and Lefty to sit down and talk it through with AB, that the thing escalated to a point of no return. It seeminly started at half time and escalated. What should BA have done? Call a time out and have Brady and Lefty sit down and talk AB down? He didn’t blame BA or anything. It was bad/sad timing. He just regreted that it blew up like it did. And that AB was certainly an asset on the field.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:57 am
Bruce Arians handled it badly….I was mad about that the moment it happened. The reality is we would’ve won the Super Bowl if we had AB against the rams. All we needed was one of the 3 guys. (wirfs, AB, Godwin)
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:01 am
BA blew it by blowing up. Imagine if Phil Jackson over-reacted to Scottie Pippen or Dennis Rodman’s blow-ups? (Both refused to go into a game or show up as expected–for selfish reasons). “No 6 rings, No last dance.” Too bad BA didn’t miss the Jets game as first predicted. Goodwin might’ve handled it differently. AB leaving was beginning of the end…Big distraction + OL injuries = No SB repeat & No GOAT.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:08 am
Anyone blaming the boss for holding an a-hole insubordinate employee accountable vs to.eating letting him do whatever he wants is clearly not qualified to ever be a leaders. Leaders, lead… they do not compromise the good of the team to placate talented but disruptive employees
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:12 am
It’s amazing that it didn’t happen sooner.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:14 am
Exactly, Buc D. Truth. In the case of Pippen, Jackson did the right thing. He de-escalated it by sitting Pippen down and ignoring him. Phil Jackson is quite arrogant, but he keeps his ego in check when dealing with players, he is the quintessential high EQ coach. He was mediocre as an X and Os coach, that’s why he had Tex Winter as his assistant. But his genius was getting everyone on the same page, and if someone strayed (Kobe, Pippen) he managed to keep his anger and frustration in check. That’s why he won so many championships in Chicago and LA.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:32 am
Absolutely right–think Brady wasn’t disgusted that BA couldn’t be the grownup in the room and instead kicked his favorite receiver off the team right before the playoffs when he was going for his last ring?
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:28 pm
Thank you both for being the voice of reason. In no way shape or form, should Arians have stopped the game to have a counseling session on a guy who likely would have attained 2/3 of his $1 million bonus had he played the second half.
Cobraboy:
20/20 hindsight.
This is on Brown, not anybody else.
It is part of him and he has a long track record of crazy.
Anybody ever date a hot but crazy girl? De-escalate in a public space can be impossible.
firethecannons Says:
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:04 am
AB was the one who escalated He impulsed and threw off his clothes and said no more only so much ass kissing the team can do to keep AB happy The situation could of been different if AB acted correctly but he didn’t–this is not BA’s fault I would look to Todd Bowles being at fault for Brady retiring. TB12 brings em back to overtime and Bowles calls as usual a dumb ass play thereby losing the game. Too frustrating to have to deal with.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:01 pm
“Christensen believes if his old coaching buddy had relaxed and let Brady and Leftwich handle Brown, then the Bucs would have had their star receiver through the remainder of the season.”
You mean the Brown who threw Brady under the bus the next day?
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:32 pm
Sort of backs up exactly what I had been saying since we got the reports from the sideline that Brown DID say he was hurt, before Arians went loco, which in turn set AB off.
Arians, I’m his own words, said he basically fired AB on the spot. The lazy dummies out there say AB quit – or walked off the job, that is fake news according to Arians himself and his version of events.
Arians isn’t purely a bad guy, I do not believe Arians heard AB say he was hurt – and all he heard was AB say he wasn’t going back in, and that’s what set Arians off. But luckily for Arians, AB is such a nut he stole all the headlines and the lazy media never bothered to do the full story since it’s easier and more fun to point and laugh at the village idiot.
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:35 pm
I wa a literally alone piecing this story together – I wasn’t pro or anti-Brown, but I thought Arians instigated the entire thing, was hugely unprofessional and his actions were overshadowed by AB so he got no heat. But that press conference that Arians had – were he bragged about firing AB on the sideline, that should have been a clue that the story wasn’t as simple as ‘crazy guy goes nuts’.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:55 pm
He told him to get the F out of here. Doesn’t sound very professional to me. A few weeks later he hit Adam’s in anger with no premeditated thought of how this looked to the players, fans and organization. Old and lost it. He’s toast.
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:02 pm
Antonio was warned he was down to his last shot, according to his vaccination card.
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:17 pm
Many here haven’t had the opportunity to manage a group of skilled workers, particularly workers needed on a key project. This isn’t like firing a waiter at Cracker Barrel, or some other low-skilled position, low-demand, easily replaced position. Like it or not, AB was needed more than ever after Godwin went down.
Once Arians stooped to Brown’s child-like behavior, it became what is called a child to child transaction in transactional analysis. That’s when your ego takes over when someone else is acting child-like, and you too start acting like a child. All too often inexperienced or incompetent managers like to show who is boss and escalate the situation by firing someone or overreact by throwing a tantrum of their own.
Like it or not, the only position player who was somewhat interchangeable with Brown was Godwin, not Evans. Without Brown or Godwin in the slot the Bucs had no chance against a team like the Rams. Would Arians have lost the team by ignoring AB? I doubt it, they are all grown-ups, and they’ve seen enough of AB to know he’s bat-excrement crazy. There was no need to escalate the situation by firing Brown; not only did it serve no purpose, it was counterproductive as hell.
February 2nd, 2022 at 6:38 pm
All of these are on AB. He’s crazy, betrayed Brady who give him a helping hand and all the team
February 3rd, 2022 at 11:24 am
Blame it on the coach. He knew AB was a headcase – nut-job. So did everyone on the team. But he could run and catch. All you had to do is accommodate him for a few weeks – hold your nose…. and get to another Super Bowl. You had to call out a crazy person. BA forgot the goal – which was the SuperBowl.
February 3rd, 2022 at 7:25 pm
Browns a clown low life pos period tired of everyone siding with this guy I would rather lose without him than win with him