The former Tampa Bay wide receiver cited Vincent Jackson in his spiel, who was diagnosed with CTE but died from chronic alcohol use.
Antonio Brown shared his thoughts on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and the NFL when asked whether he believes he has the disease during an appearance on the Full Send Podcast.
“CTE, you can’t scan a person for CTE ’til they’re dead, first off,” the former Buccaneers wide receiver responded. “...So how you going to say a player that’s living in real time, who putting up real stats, who’s standing for real purposes, who’s doing real things, got CTE?”
When asked about the hits he's taken as a wide receiver, Brown interrupted, “Bro, I’m a wide receiver! What wide receiver you know has CTE? Vincent Jackson? Did you hear the Tampa Bay Bucs talking about Vincent Jackson’s CTE?”
The family of former NFL star Vincent Jackson stated that the 38-year-old, who died in February, was diagnosed with stage II chronic traumatic encephalopathy after his death. Jackson died from chronic alcohol use, according to the Hillsborough County (Fla.) medical examiner.
Brown continued, saying, “I played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl last year and they had a player who died from what, Bob?”
“I’m guessing you mean CTE,” the podcast host replied.
Brown responded: “No, don’t guess I mean. It’s factual.” He later elaborated by saying, “You only contract CTE when you die, bro. So what are you asking me what I got when I’m living?”
“Being a football player, you're going to have some trauma to the head, regardless of what you do,” Brown went on to say. “...Vincent Jackson, he used to play for the Bucs. He died from CTE. And the Bucs, on the other hand, say, 'AB’s crazy, he may have CTE, he needs to get some help.'
“You think these people care about if I got CTE? Did you see them do anything for Vincent Jackson like they did for Demaryius Thomas? Did they put his number on the field?”
Brown's appearance on the podcast comes after a controversial week that started with him taking off his pads and leaving his team mid-game on Sunday to his eventual release from Tampa Bay. Two different stories have come from the respective camps about what exactly led to that moment on Sunday.
Arians claimed during his Thursday press conference that Brown was upset he wasn't being targeted enough during the game. The wide receiver was close to reaching a number of contract incentives that could have paid out $1 million in total.
Brown, via his attorney Sean Burstyn, accused the team on Wednesday of executing an “ongoing cover-up” of the fact that he was effectively cut during the game. Brown said that he relented when pressured by a coach to play with an ankle injury, and was injected with what he describes as a “powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller.” When the pain became too much and limited his performance, the wide receiver said he exited the game and sat on the sideline, where he claims he was admonished by a coach to return to the field.
”Imagine the guy who you think has your back, who you flew here with to do a mission, and they know your situation, and you get there and you're battling with them, then he tells you that because you can't go to war with him, he tells you to get the f--- out of there?” Brown said on the Full Send Podcast. “I'm an alpha male. If you discriminate on my public image and my name, at that point it's f--- you too professionally.”
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