Antonio Brown Says He Won't Be Playing in NFL Next Season in FCF Interview

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Antonio Brown has no plans to play in the NFL during the 2022 season. 

During an interview with Fan Controlled Football reporter Charly Arnolt, Brown was asked if he was going to be playing next season. He responded, "Nah, don’t play yourself looking at me to play."

Brown was also asked if football was still important to him. He responded to that question saying you "can't play football forever" and that he feels he has accomplished a lot over his career. 

Brown's comments come after he said earlier this month that he wanted to retire a Pittsburgh Steeler. At the time, it was unclear if he meant he wanted to retire as a member of the franchise this summer or in the future. 

Considering his comments during an appearance at Fan Controlled Football on Saturday, it certainly seems like he wants to call it quits.

However, it's unclear if that is by choice or if it's because no teams have expressed interest in him this offseason, which would be rather hard to believe after he said in January that a "couple teams called" him after he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past season. 

Brown, who was selected by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL draft, went on to have an extremely successful career with the franchise and, at one point, was viewed as one of the best pass-catchers in the league. 

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During his nine seasons in Pittsburgh, he caught 837 passes for 11,207 yards and 74 touchdowns in 130 games. He recorded seven seasons of more than 1,000 receiving yards and was a seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro. 

Brown's career slowly began to deteriorate when the Steelers traded him to the then-Oakland Raiders ahead of the 2019 season. The 33-year-old requested a trade from the Raiders after the franchise voided the guarantees in his contract after fining him because of an altercation with general manager Mike Mayock.

The Raiders initially tried to trade Brown, but after failing to find a trade partner, he was released without having played a single game for the franchise. Brown went on to sign with the New England Patriots and appeared in just one game for Bill Belichick's squad, catching four passes for 56 yards and one touchdown. 

New England released Brown in September 2019 after it was revealed he was facing sexual assault and rape allegations by his former trainer. He eventually resolved a civil dispute with the trainer in April 2021. 

Brown also served an eight-game suspension at the beginning of the 2020 season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy because of an incident in January 2020 in which he attacked the driver of a moving company truck. 

After serving the suspension, he signed with the Buccaneers, appearing in eight regular-season games for the franchise and catching 45 passes for 483 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught eight passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns in three playoff games en route to winning a Super Bowl title with the Bucs. 

Brown returned to Tampa Bay for the 2021 season and appeared in just seven games, catching 42 passes for 545 yards and four touchdowns, before being released following an outburst in which he ran off the field during a Week 17 win over the New York Jets. 

If this is truly the end for Brown, it marks the end of a career that saw both the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. He'll end his career with 12,291 yards, 83 touchdowns, one Super Bowl title, seven Pro Bowls and four All-Pros.