Antonio Brown celebrates Tampa Bay Buccaneers' elimination from playoffs with shirtless meme

Lorenzo Reyes, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were upset Sunday afternoon in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, a marquee former player took to Twitter to celebrate.

Former Tampa receiver Antonio Brown, whom the team released Jan. 6 after he took off his jersey and shoulder pads and exited the field shirtless in the third quarter of a game against the New York Jets, posted from his Twitter account a little more than an hour after the Rams eliminated the Buccaneers.

Brown posted an image that was taken from the stands of the Jets game by a fan and showed Brown skipping across the end zone as he left the field shirtless. In the image, Brown's hands are above his head, and the image was edited to make it look as if he were holding a white sign with black letters that says "Bucs eliminated." Above the image, Brown captioned the photo by saying "Ican't" and added an emoji of a face crying with laughter.

The Buccaneers lost 30-27 after a 30-yard field goal by Rams kicker Matt Gay as time expired. Tampa Bay had battled back from a 24-point deficit to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, but the Buccaneers' defense suffered a breakdown in coverage on a huge 44-yard pass to receiver Cooper Kupp that put L.A. in field-goal position.

Brown was expected to be a key piece of Tampa Bay's offense down the stretch after he helped the team win Super Bowl 55 last season with a key touchdown grab in the second quarter of that game.

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Antonio Brown leaves the field during the Buccaneers-Jets game.
Antonio Brown leaves the field during the Buccaneers-Jets game.

Brown returned in late December after a three-game suspension stemming from the NFL saying he "misrepresented" his COVID-19 vaccination status. But after Brown quit on the team in the middle of the game, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians announced after the Week 17 game game against the New York Jets that Brown was "no longer a Buc." Brown contended that he did not quit and instead was too hurt to play, but Arians said the receiver walked off the field after their conversation.

Brown caught 42 passes for 545 yards and four touchdowns in seven games this season.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Antonio Brown celebrates Buccaneers' loss vs. Rams with shirtless meme