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Antonio Brown Accuses Buccaneers of Bribing Him to Enter Mental Health Treatment

Antonio Brown said the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offered him $200,000 to enter a "crazy house."

Noah Strackbein

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Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown is accusing the team of trying to force him into a "crazy house" prior to his release. 

Brown will appear on Real Sports on HBO with Bryant Gumbel with his lawyer Sean Burstyn Jan. 25. During the interview, Brown says the Bucs offered him $200,000 to go with their story about what happened when Brown left the field on Jan. 2 against the New York Jets.

"These guys at the Tampa Bay Bucs tried to make an agreement with me, tried to give me $200,000 to go to the crazy house so these guys could look like they know what they're talking about," Brown said. "These guys aren't professional."

Brown's lawyer further explained the offer that the two say the Buccaneers made. 

"The offer was Antonio would basically sit on the sidelines, go on some list and commit himself to some form of intensive mental health treatment," Burstyn said. "We were specifically told in writing by the general manager, twice, 'don't spin this any other way.'"

Brown and the Buccaneers had different stories surrounding Brown's mid-game departure in New York. The wideout claims he couldn't play due to a lingering ankle injury and head coach Bruce Arians told him to leave. The Buccaneers then released a statement claiming Brown did not inform the team of his ankle pain.

"While Antonio did receive treatment on his ankle and was listed on the injury report leading up to last Sunday's game, he was cleared to play by our medical team prior to the start of the game and at no point during the game did he indicate with medical personnel that he could not play."

Brown and Burstyn both claimed on Real Sports that they have documentation that he received treatment during halftime against the Jets.

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.

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