Having Ripped His Savior Tom Brady, Antonio Brown Threatens Alex Guerrero in a Tweet That Twitter Took Down for Violating its Rules

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If you're one of us who've been doing sociological studies on Antonio Brown for the last 10 years or so, you'd have to be naive to think he would just bite the hand that fed him (literally, if we're talking about feeding him the ball) from September of 2019 to last January 2nd. Coming after Tom Brady was a classic AB ingrate move:

But by no means should any of us have thought it would end there. Brown is nothing if not a petulant manchild with arrested development. And like any toddler, his tantrums aren't going to remain focused on any one target. If mom says he can't have impulse-purchase candy at the checkout, it's not just the lack of a Snickers he's going to be mad about. His meltdown is going to include how mom never gives him anything and dad is mean and her face is stupid and he hates shopping and the whole store has boogers. 

So Brown's attacks are never just targeted hits. He sprays verbal bullets in every direction. And when he's firing at Brady, he's always going to turn the muzzle toward Brady's trainer, business partner, pliability guru and bestie, Alex Guerrero. Or at least try to, if we grade on the curve for spelling, punctuation and grammar. 

And in Guerrero's case, he's not exactly collateral damage. These two have history. As Clem detailed at the beginning of this year:

Like a lot of Brady's teammates, Brown signed up for a TB12 Fitness membership, which includes treatments from Guerrero. And which also includes fees that could get you 10,000 memberships to Planet Fitness. (Though to be fair, I'm not sure what TB12's Lunk policy is.) After leaving/getting kicked off Tampa's roster, Brown texted Guerrero, demanding a refund of the $100,000 he felt he was owed.

Which he brought up again as a follow up to this Tweet directed at Brady:

Here's the text of the follow up Tweet, which was taken down by Twitter:

Alex Guerra You think i won’t have u smacked at TB12 boy stop playing with me ! Boy getting paid by bucks n taking players money too

— AB (@AB84) August 17, 2022

I'm not totally fluent, but I do speak a little conversational Twitter. So if I may translate:

Hey Alex Guerrero. Don't allow yourself to think I've forgotten about our former arrangement and the $100,000 I am rightly owed. Because I haven't. I am of course aware of where your TB 12 Fitness store is located, and can be there to discuss this matter until it is resolved. With my attorneys, if necessary. I'd also like to point out the obvious conflict of interest involving you being on the Buccaneers payroll, while at the same time being an independent contractor, taking on Tampa players as clients in your business venture. It is also highly unethical - to say the very least - that your business partner is the most important person in the organization, thereby giving him the power (if not the authority) to give favorable treatment to those teammates who pay such exorbitant fees for your services. Creating a situation where they feel pressured to pay these usury costs, otherwise risk being marginalized, demoted, or outright released in favor of a competing player who does join. On behalf of both myself and the rest of the team writ large, this is an outrage. And I demand to be fairly compensated. Good day to you, sir. 

- Antonio Brown, August 17, 2022

Or words to that effect. 

I cannot believe I'm about to say this about an Antonio Brown Tweet for the second day in a row. (I'm going to be sore tomorrow.) But the "smacked" and the veiled threats aside, Brown does have a point. 

This whole arrangement between Brady and Guerrero and the team ultimately cost him a relationship with the Patriots that had been working great for both sides for about 17 years. Until the conflict of interest led to an actual conflict. The Pliability War was fought over it. Guerrero overstepping his bounds. Giving players medical advice that contradicted what the team's training staff and their like $2 million annual budget were recommending. Conducting himself like he was on the payroll, with complete access to the team facilities, instead of just working with Brady. And when you consider the implied pressure players were being put under to either listen to the team that pays their salaries or fork over a substantial portion of that salary to the quarterback's private business interest, the whole situation became untenable. No matter how successful the partnership between Brady, Bill Belichick and the Krafts was, you can't allow a player - even your franchise player - to run what from a distance sounds like a mob protection racket. This is a real nice hamstring you've got here, kid. It would be a real shame if it were to get a pull and put you on IR. … 

Again, I think that's kind of what Brown was going for. Though maybe I'm just projecting. But AB's got 100,000 reasons to keep making the point. And no NFL contract to worry about, so he can say whatever he wants as long as it doesn't violate Twitter rules. My guess is he's only just getting warmed up on this. So buckle up. It's going to get even uglier, really fast.