Opinion: Antonio Brown Did Himself No Favors During Sunday's Postgame Presser

Antonio Brown is grateful to be back on the football field, but made it clear he has some beef with the media on Sunday.

When Antonio Brown slid into the Zoom screen after Tom Brady, I gotta admit, I was a bit surprised. 

"This is going to be interesting," I thought.

And sure enough, it was.

What followed was Brown's message that he didn't want to talk about his recent three-game suspension, handed down to him for obtaining and utilizing a fake COVID-19 vaccination card, which can lead to felony charges, to the Buccaneers. 

But it wasn't just Brown's message that came across as biting and callous, it was how he delivered the message that really gave insight into how he felt about the situation.

Brown sat through a couple of questions that weren't suspension-related before ESPN's Jenna Laine began to ask him how much it meant to him that Bruce Arians stuck by his side through everything. It was an easy, but honest and insightful question that meant no ill will.

Yet, Brown took it as such and proceed to interrupt Laine while also mentioning how he thinks the media's writing is "bogus" and that they're only here, and I'm paraphrasing here, to start drama.

"Next question, next question. We just want to talk about this game. You know, we don't want to waste no time with you guys writing bogus," exclaimed Brown.

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about that. You guys is all drama, it's all about football. We just talk about Carolina or I don't want to talk to you guys."

Antonio Brown didn't want to talk about any of the off-the-field stuff after today's game.

"I don't want to talk about that. You guys are all drama. ... We're going to talk about Carolina or I don't want to talk to you guys."pic.twitter.com/8raJFl3C4b

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 27, 2021

The key is that Brown waited long enough for Laine to basically get the entire question in. Therefore, proper context is available to fully understand her intentions and Brown's perspective. 

And I'll just say this: Brown did himself no favors by acting the way he did.

For starters, Laine's question was rooted in the fact that Bruce Arians stuck up for Brown despite public backlash. She wanted to know how much that meant to him and what it meant to him - for his coach to take a public whipping in order to help him. It was an innocuous question that didn't even dive into the details of the suspension.

But Brown, for some reason, twisted it around to where it was a negative vibe. As if he shouldn't have to sit there and answer questions from reporters who hadn't spoken with him since the suspension.

It's common sense and common practice to ask players, coaches, and whomever about recent events that have affected them or the team in personal matters. That's what reporters do. 

Rather, Brown acted like he was the victim. Like it was the media who didn't pay his chef the money they were owed or forged the vaccination card. 

Instead of contrition, reporters were subjected to confrontation. Brown didn't show much remorse for what he did, and based on his past, it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon.

It wasn't a good look. At all. 

Here's a thought: It might not be the best idea to make demands and control the scene when you're literally coming off your first game back from suspension. Sure, the Twitter trolls and the Facebook ogres love it, but in the real world, it doesn't play.

But as we all know, the NFL isn't the real world. So as long as Brown is behind the shield and the Bucs are writing his checks, I guess he's going to keep "persevering and doing right" as he did during the months leading up to his suspension.

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