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Antonio Brown may seek legal action against Bucs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Antonio Brown may seek legal action against the Buccaneers

The football season is over for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but their issues with Antonio Brown are not so finalized.

The disgruntled wide receiver and his lawyer, Sean Burstyn, said in an appearance on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on Tuesday they plan to seek legal action against the Bucs after they released Brown earlier this month following a bizarre on-field episode.

There's a lot to unpack from the interview with Gumbel, starting with Burstyn saying his team is looking into filing a defamation lawsuit against the Bucs for claiming Brown had a mental health episode while with the team.

"Antonio was defamed by this spin that he had a mental health episode that makes him someone who's not reliable to do a good job on the field," Burstyn said, via ESPN. "So we're pursuing internally all of our rights under the [collective bargaining agreement] and considering them and maybe stepping outside of the CBA."

Brown added in the interview that Tampa Bay offered him money to go to a mental health facility — "the crazy house," in his words — and sit to the side and not play.

When asked by Gumbel if he needed mental health help of any kind, Brown answered he has "mental wealth."

Gumbel also tried to dig back in to what exactly took place on the sidelines on Jan. 2 before Brown ripped off his jersey and made a dramatic exit from the field in the middle of a game against the New York Jets. 

While Brown previously told TMZ that ripping off his uniform probably "wasn't necessary," he used his opportunity with Gumbel to refute Bucs head coach Bruce Arian's claims he was upset about not getting targeted as much during the first half of the game.

"I'm not worried about the ball," Brown said. "Tom Brady is my guy. He's the reason I'm on Tampa Bay, so I know I'm gonna get the ball."

Brown maintains he was too injured to play in the rest of the game. Arians denied knowing anything about Brown being hindered in that game due to his ongoing ankle injury.

The other main issue at the center of the legal action is whether or not Tampa Bay forced Brown to be injected with painkiller Toradol before games to deal with the ankle injury. (The NFL sent out a memo over the summer that Toradol use should be limited because it can cause severe bleeding.)

The potential lawsuits aren't stopping Brown from still trying to find a new team to play for. Even with the ankle injury potentially a factor in his health and multiple legal actions looming, Brown continues to find ways to pitch himself to new teams. Since his release from Tampa Bay, he has gone on Cameo to discuss the Minnesota Vikings and posted a photoshopped picture of himself in a Baltimore Ravens jersey on social media. 

Between the potential legal action and the social media campaigns, it looks like Antonio Brown is going to continue dominating headlines well into the NFL offseason.

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