Step Into The Blast Furnace
November 19th, 2021
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
The Bucs need a quick fix to this messy Antonio Brown situation and I’ve got just the guy to pull it off.
C’mon down, No. 12.
If Tom Brady hadn’t vouched for Brown 13 months ago, Brown wouldn’t be a Buccaneer today. In fact, there’s a good chance he’d be out of the league.
Guess what? His NFL future is now very much in doubt.
Antonio Brown
Whether or not Brown is eventually cleared in this latest controversy, some damage has already been done. Arians has to be distraught, knowing the last thing a team with a 2-game losing streak needs is a headline-grabbing distraction.
Arians will downplay the subject in a public setting. Privately, he’s seething. He didn’t trust his instincts in March, 2020, when he was first asked about signing Brown as a free agent.
“It’s not gonna happen,” Arians said on the Tiki and Tierney Show. “There’s no room. It’s just not gonna happen. It’s just not a fit here.”
Arians went on to say Brown was “not a fit in our locker room.”
Flash forward seven months. Based on a hard sell by Brady, Arians and Jason Licht relented and Brown became a Buccaneer.
Here’s how the deal went down, as described by Lars Anderson in his recently released book on the 2020 Bucs: A Season in the Sun:
“For weeks Brady begged. He pleaded with Licht, telling him what a good person wide receiver Antonio Brown was. He tried to sway Arians, explaining that he would take full responsibility if Brown committed a single mistake off the field. ‘It will all be on me,’ Brady told Arians. ‘I’ll take all the heat.’ “
Step into the blast furnace, No. 12.
According to Anderson, both Licht and Arians wasted no time telling Brown he was on a short leash. One mistake and he’d be booted from One Buc Place.
Before the Bucs and the league can determine whether Brown was indeed fully vaccinated, you can argue he has already made that one mistake. The detailed report in the Tampa Bay Times mentions Brown’s personal chef, his girlfriend, a Hollywood fixer and Brady advisor Alex Guerrero.
It’s one unsavory mix.
The organization felt compelled to rush out a statement that in no way vindicates Brown from these allegations.
Instead of preparing for Monday night’s home matchup against the Giants, Buc players, coaches and staff are wondering whether they can trust Antonio Brown.
When the Bucs signed Brown, he was still on suspension from the league for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. He was also under probation for felony burglary charges.
That was quite a show of faith by an organization with realistic Super Bowl aspirations. According to Anderson, Brady picked Brown up when he first arrived at Tampa International and drove him to the Derek Jeter mansion on Davis Island, where Brown stayed for a few weeks.
Let’s assume Brady didn’t charge Brown rent, otherwise he’d likely be on the list of people Brown is accused of stiffing.
There needs to be a Brady-Brown pow-wow to clear the air. Brown has to look Brady in the eye, preferably through a mask, and be honest with his most ardent supporter. And Brady needs to go the extra mile in determining whether Brown betrayed his teammates.
Brady owes it to his head coach and GM. Did you see Arians at the podium Friday? He looked like he was on his way to a Proctologist exam.
Let’s not forget it was Arians who proudly proclaimed everyone in the organization was vaccinated … nothing to see here.
Brady’s the leader of this team and he should take the lead in the internal Brown probe.
“They’re going to make a Mount Rushmore of football players at some point and the first face they chisel will be that guy’s face,” says Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, referring to No. 12. “To think he’s 44 and probably playing the best ball of his career, it’s really amazing. He’s an inspiration to everybody in and out of sports.”
It’s time to climb down from Mount Rushmore and get your hands soiled in Brown’s mess.
Yes, that warranty includes USED vehicles!
Ira drives a 2020 Ford Escape (cherry red).
November 19th, 2021 at 3:15 pm
Lol smh
November 19th, 2021 at 3:20 pm
Almost written in an “I told you so” tone. Almost…and with the Chiefs boat racing the Raiders on Sunday night…all seems well on Ira Island.
November 19th, 2021 at 3:26 pm
If he is guilty he is gone, if this is a fake news, somebody has to pay for this…..Again, in case is a lie, how can nobody gets responsability for tremendous damage? Investigation should go both ways….
November 19th, 2021 at 3:32 pm
If the Chef is lying then he should be thrown into a Siberian prison wearing nothing but a banana hammock.
November 19th, 2021 at 3:39 pm
Sad our own site assumes guilt.
Microcosm of societal issues right here.
November 19th, 2021 at 3:56 pm
If Brown did lie he should face the repercussions buy I don’t agree with demanding players have to have the shots ….yes i know its a team sport .
November 19th, 2021 at 4:03 pm
A non-story. The Bucs did their work. Period. Why waste space on this?
November 19th, 2021 at 4:21 pm
Ira cut AB TB12 and Bucs some slack
Too damn much politics around vaccines in this country
AB is one bad ass athlete who obviously takes care of his body and frankly nobody should tell him what to put in his body it’s personal choice
We need 81
Go Bucs
November 19th, 2021 at 4:23 pm
If Brady were to “get his hands soiled in Brown’s mess” he should tell Goodell and the NFL to go ahead with the extortionists’ based witch-hunt on your own, not throwing my friend under the bus and , by the way, you can stick your Mandates up your ass.
But Brady’s too smart to do that.
November 19th, 2021 at 4:42 pm
Achtung.
November 19th, 2021 at 4:55 pm
ira, love you brother but in this country we are always presumed innocent until proven guilty right??? That’s the problem with the US media, they would rather opinionize than write facts.
AB has appeared to follow all the rules since being a Buccaneer. Please hold the MSNBC and CNN smear articles until the smoke clears and we all know the facts.
Go BUCS
November 19th, 2021 at 5:11 pm
It was only a matter of time before he was a distraction. Having said that it’s sad he has to have a different set of rules between shot up and not. What a crock the used car salesman pres has done to this country. But yeah noones surprised a sociopath didn’t follow the rules
November 19th, 2021 at 6:03 pm
I’ve got to say, I almost always agree with Ira…..but not this time….
This matter is between the NFL…..the Bucs & Antonio Brown…..Brady should stay the hell out…..
If Brown is guilty of this….it has nothing to do with Brady……Brown should pay the price…..
If we lose him…it’s been a net positive….we have a SB & a 6-3 record…..
November 19th, 2021 at 6:16 pm
This is easily the most Inquirer level, TMZ, tabloid rag trash article Ira has ever written on this site.
If you have sources and want to report an article do so. If you want to soapbox…we’ll, I guess that’s why you write for a blog now and not a news’s source.
Love Joebucs, love their dedication to trying to report any piece of info on the site that we avid Bucs fans might want to read or comment about.
Wish I hadn’t clicked on this one.
November 19th, 2021 at 7:00 pm
PU
November 19th, 2021 at 7:28 pm
To get back to business for a minute
We better damn sure see some disciplined physical football out of our home team Mon
We need to make a statement Mon night folks
@i’mwithAB
Booming U
November 19th, 2021 at 7:30 pm
What Kentucky Buc said!
November 19th, 2021 at 8:21 pm
If Brady can’t win cos his heart is broken over Antonio Brown, he needs to get lost. That’s an insult to players like Evans, Godwin, Howard, Brate, not to mention all the other players on the team. He better not throw another pick 6 Monday.
November 19th, 2021 at 8:59 pm
I’m really surprised by this article from Ira. It almost seems like Ira has AB guilty on everything. Maybe Ira knows something we don’t and has proof AB did all of this. But….. if Ira doesn’t have any 100% proof, he may be the one apologizing over this. Let the truth come out and either way let him play. Fine him like Rodgers, because he straight faced lied to everyone.
November 19th, 2021 at 10:53 pm
Vaxed people all over America are still getting struck with Covid.
Me included.
So he wasn’t or isn’t vaxed…big deal.
November 19th, 2021 at 11:42 pm
Brady needs to focus on the guys who are on the field and figure out how to throw passes more effectively into zone coverages. The dude is living off his laurels the last two games and that’s obviously not what he wants any more than we do.
So, how about the coaches?
Crickets.
November 19th, 2021 at 11:52 pm
This team expects to win but doesn’t have the extra drive to earn it. Most pathetic group of underachievers since the 2019 Browns.
November 20th, 2021 at 7:08 am
They never change. Prima donnas. Cut the cord asap.
November 20th, 2021 at 8:52 am
Unvaccinated people are dying at a rate three times higher than vaccinated people. So much for the hoax. Facts are facts. Do these casualties count on the bounty or is that just on the military?
November 20th, 2021 at 10:53 am
Sparky, what are you trying to say there in regards to the military comment?
November 20th, 2021 at 12:44 pm
Does the bounty on Americans extend to civilians and the hoax, or is it restricted to the military in combat?
November 20th, 2021 at 3:24 pm
Sparky, thanks for taking the time to expound.