Antonio Brown has explained the background to the viral photo of himself flexing his golden grill while at the University of Central Michigan. Brown says that the photographer told him not to smile and that, in response, he shot back the meanest mug he could. Brown discussed the picture while appearing on Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill's podcast, It Needed To Be Said.
"I had a permanent grill at the bottom, 8-pack and I just smiled, and the dude said, [Don't smile]," said Brown. "So he pi**ed me off so much I gave him the meanest mug I could give him. I was really trying to scare him."
Antonio Brown Playing For The Bucs
Brown continued: "We had just won the championship, too, in 2007 for the school. So for me, I wanted to really put some swag in the picture. I had the pork chops. You know, I couldn't really get a full beard at the time. So I had to give him a cr*zy mug like."
Brown attended Central Michigan from 2007–2009. Elsewhere in the interview with Hill, Brown discussed his final game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He infamously stormed off the field in the middle of the third quarter without explanation.
Antonio Brown Explains The Viral Photo
"We (were) about to play the Jets and I am already hurt," Brown said. "So I took pictures to send to the coach and told him 'Look, If we're going to win the Super Bowl I'm going to need to take these last two weeks to recover up so I can give you my best when we go to win the Super Bowl,' but the coach called me saying that I wasn't resting. So then Tom (Brady) called me and told me he'd hit me with 10-12 (passes), so he gassed me up, and that's all I needed to hear. But you know as a player, if you f***ing up but your team needs you then you just suck it up for the game and for the team. I already know they were being fake to me the whole time I was there. I got suspended (for breaking Covid-19 rules) and I came back and they had some guys hurt, so they wanted to get everything out of me -- they treated me like I'm a dog."
[Via]