Antonio Brown is a professional football player in the United States with a net worth of $20 million. Antonio has had $77 million in NFL contracts as of this writing, albeit that figure includes money he did not get due to a variety of disputes and personal behavior penalties.
Early Life
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In July of 1988, Antonio Brown was born in Miami, Florida. He attended Miami Norland High School and was a wide receiver and punt returner.
Brown was a two-time First-Team All-American and two-time MAC Special Teams Player of the Year during his collegiate football career at Central Michigan.
NFL Career
Brown was picked #195 in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and has spent his whole career with the team.
He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time First-Team All-Pro during his NFL career, winning the AFC Championship in 2010.
In 2014, Brown was selected as AFC Offensive Co-Player of the Year and led the NFL in receiving yards.
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In 2014 and 2015, he led the NFL in receptions and led the AFC in receiving touchdowns. Brown is the first player in NFL history to have 1,000 yards receiving and returning in the same season, as well as the first player in NFL history to have at least five receptions and 50 receiving yards in 35 consecutive games.
He’s also the first NFL player to have at least 125 catches in consecutive seasons. He’s also one of just two players in the NFL, along with Calvin Johnson, to have 5,000 receiving yards in three years.
From 2010 through 2018, Antonio was a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In 2019, he was a member of the Oakland Raiders for a short time. His stint with the Raiders came to an end before the season began, and he was fined $215,000 for altercations with the team’s general manager.
He signed a one-year agreement with the New England Patriots on September 9, the same day he was released by the Raiders.
He worked out with the Patriots and was expected to participate in Week 2 of the NFL season. Antonio was released by the Patriots on September 20 after sexual assault charges surfaced.
Antonio said that he would retire from the NFL in the 2020 offseason. Due to infractions of the league’s personal conduct rules, he was eventually banned for the first eight weeks of the 2020 NFL season.
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Antonio signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in October 2020. Antonio’s old New England colleague Tom Brady, who had just joined the Buccaneers, was reportedly important in getting him the job.
Bruce Arians, the coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, previously coached Antonio in Pittsburgh. On February 7, 2021, the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl.
Antonio ran off the field in the midst of the third quarter in week 17 of the 2021 season, removing his jersey, shoulder pads, and shirt. He was eventually let go from the team.
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Contracts and Controversy
Antonio signed a three-year, $1.288 million deal with the Steelers in June 2010 after being picked. They agreed to a five-year, $42.5 million deal in July 2012.
Antonio Brown signed a four-year, $68 million agreement with the Steelers in February 2017, averaging $17 million per year. That was enough to make him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history until Odell Beckham Jr. got a contract for $19 million per year beginning in 2018.
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In March 2019, two years into this contract, he was transferred to the Oakland Raiders for a restructured three-year $50 million contract. Antonio should have had a $30 million signing bonus if everything had gone according to plan.
Antonio had many verbal spats with the management of his new club, the Oakland Raiders, in August and September 2019.
Brown was released by the Raiders on September 7, and his $30 million signing bonus was set to be rescinded.
Antonio stated later that day that he had agreed to a one-year, $15 million agreement with the Patriots, none of which was guaranteed.
So, if he were harmed after only one play, he would have made a huge mistake. Was this the plan from the start? Was this Antonio’s ruse to get off a low-prospect club and onto what may be Tom Brady’s last season in the NFL? We’ll have to wait and see.
The passage of time revealed the truth. Antonio was released by the Patriots on September 20, 2019, two weeks after essentially throwing a guaranteed $30 million down the toilet due to an ongoing sexual assault allegation. On September 23, the first payment of his $9 million Patriots signing bonus was due.
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The $4 million second payment was due on January 15. He was due a $1 million basic pay and $500,000 in-game roster incentives, which he very definitely will not get.
The signing incentives may be revoked if Antionio “takes any conduct that significantly damages the public’s esteem for, or is materially critical of, the Club’s ownership and coaches,” according to his contract.
As of this writing, it’s unclear if his release on sexual assault charges would make the $9 million invalid. Antonio’s total earnings for the 2019 season will drop from $30 million guaranteed to $9 million guaranteed if he does not collect the $9 million signing bonus.
Antonio signed a one-year agreement with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in October 2020, with a basic salary of $1 million and $1.5 million in performance-based bonus incentives.
Antonio re-signed with the Bucs on a one-year agreement in April 2021.
A $2 million signing bonus, $916,000 in basic pay, and $3.1 million in guaranteed money were included in this agreement, which could have been worth a total of $6.5 million with benchmarks and milestone incentives.
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When Antonio rushed off the field in January 2022, he lost an estimated $1 million in incentives.
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Career Earnings
Antonio Brown has made a total of $77 million throughout his NFL career. His initial three-year deal with the Steelers earned him $1.288.
In his first year, he made $393,000, followed by $450,000 in his second year.
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Antonio signed a five-year, $42 million agreement with the Steelers in 2012, as he entered his third NFL season, bringing his total earnings for the year to $9 million. Without his multiple scandals, his career earnings should have easily reached $100 million.