"Couple of teams called" - Antonio Brown signals he's ready for his NFL return

Antonio Brown keeps making the news even with him being out of the NFL and with the playoffs in full swing. Love him or hate him, there is no denying that he is often the center of attention on and off the field.

It was never truer than when he left the field for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the last time, removing his jersey and vest and exiting the game midway as his former team was still battling the New York Jets. However, if Antonio Brown is to be believed, then according to him, he was dismissed from the field because he refused to play with an ankle injury and the coaching staff, particularly Bruce Arians, forced him to.

It seems that at least some people have bought his narrative if Antonio Brown's latest statements via a sit-down with Complex Sports are to be considered valid. Brown reaffirmed that despite everything that's happened, he is still very much an athlete and football player. He went on to say that at least a couple of teams are interested in bringing him back in5o the NFL.

“I’m a football player, man. I’m a professional athlete. Let’s not get that twisted. That’s my main thing... A couple teams called.”

His actions resulted in people initially pointing fingers at him, which is easy to do given his past record. But since his controversial exit from the Buccaneers, the Antonio Brown saga has become one that is significantly more nuanced and layered than one might have thought.

Antonio Brown shows rare reticence for his actions

Antonio Brown Super Bowl LV

Antonio Browns has rarely been commended for learning from his mistakes as he has made bad off-field decisions one after the other. From his felony assault charge to lying about his vaccination status to the league, Brown constantly finds a way to take two steps back in his career.

Now it seems that Antonio Brown has begun to realize that his reputation precedes him in many cases. This has resulted in Brown showing a different side of himself; during the same Complex Sports interview Brown took a moment to share his remorse for his actions.

“It’s not a good feeling with the way it ended, but I just feel good that I represented myself the right way. I could have handled my emotions better from walking off the field and making a distraction, but in that moment, I just didn’t want to be a part of it no more. You’re sacrificing your health to play with someone, and they don’t really respect that, so to me that was a smack in the face.”

Antonio Brown will be wanting teams to take his contrition to heart and choose to side with his version of events. Which, Brown hopes, will eventually result in an offer to join an NFL roster, giving him the chance to replace the last memory that fans have of him in the league.