Sports News | Antonio Brown: Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver says team tried to pay him $200,000 for mental health treatment | Today Headlines

Speaking weeks after removing his uniform and shoulder pads, waving to the crowd and walking off the field midway through the Bucs’ game against the New York Jets, Brown said the team tried to send him into the ” crazy house”.

“These guys from the Tampa Bay Bucs tried to make a deal with me to give me $200,000 to go to the madhouse so these guys could look like they knew what they were talking about,” Brown said during from HBO’s season opener “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” which aired on Tuesday.

When asked by Gumbel if Brown thought he needed mental health help, Brown replied, “I have mental wealth. I know a lot of people maybe don’t understand me, don’t know how I look at people. things or don’t know how I react to emotional things, but it’s not for them to understand me.

“I have a beautiful family, kids and people all over the world who look up to me. And there’s no reason for me to be in this position at this point.”

Brown previously said in a statement that he left the game with an ankle injury. He said the team knew about his injury, which the Bucs denied.

Brown also told Gumbel that head coach Bruce Arians was lying when he said he wasn’t told about Brown’s ankle injury during the Jets game.

When asked about the charges, the team referred CNN to previous statements released about Brown — none of which addressed payment for mental health treatment.

Brown was released by the Bucs shortly after the incident.

In the days following the incident, Arians claimed that Brown left the field because he was angry that he didn’t have the ball in his eyes enough. Brown, however, disputed these claims.

“I’m not worried about the ball,” Brown said. “Tom Brady is my guy. He’s the reason I’m in Tampa Bay, so I know I’m going to have the ball.”