Blog #151: My Response to Antonio Brown’s Behavior as a Neurodiverse Individual

I’m pretty sure many of you who follow the National Football League like I do have heard about what transpired today at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wide Receiver Antonio Brown stripping off his uniform and darting off to the locker room. After the game, Head Coach Bruce Arians announced that Antonio Brown was no longer a Buccaneer.

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Yes, like a lot of you, I was shocked and baffled by what had just transpired on the sidelines. Then again, this was further confirmation that Antonio Brown clearly has demons he needed to confront. However, I think his behavior yesterday should also serve as a reminder that when it comes to mental health, especially among neurodiverse individuals, it should always come first and foremost.

You may have heard me talk about masking several times. Long before the pandemic, I would always wear a mask, but a mask to hide my emotions when I was in a situation such as a family event or in the workplace. I will once again admit that there were times that I wanted to throw in the towel and just quit at whatever I was doing at my job.

But in doing so, I would have brought shame upon myself and my family if I had. Clearly, what Antonio Brown did yesterday and has done over the past several years is the ultimate form of why I stopped masking. He clearly has issues and needs to step away from the game for good to get his life back together.

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As a neurodiverse individual, Antonio Brown’s behavior should serve as a reminder to workplaces that if an employee is displaying strange amounts of behavioral issues, then they need to step away to address those issues, especially if that individual is neurodiverse and is capable of maintaining a particular job. It doesn’t matter if you hold a high-ranking job or a low-ranking job, your mental health comes first and foremost, period!

If you think that the NFL is just a game, it’s not a game. These guys are at a job to make a living and many times, money and fame can be the root of all evils.

I have seen plenty of people at my current job quit under the pressure of working in high stress job like a retail environment. Adding to personal issues like Antonio Brown and you are just asking for trouble.

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I have also mentioned many times about “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and how we can all start out like Dr. Henry Jekyll, but through strange and disastrous circumstances, we can turn in Mr. Edward Hyde. I’ve done that plenty of times, largely because I put on an emotional mask that would crack as time went on.

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Athletes like Antonio Brown make it a point to throw on an emotional mask when they step on the field, face the media or fans and those masks can cause more harm than good.

If I have a message for Antonio Brown, it would be to walk away from the game of football and just focus on what demons you are fighting right now because money and fame is the ultimate mask we can all want to wear but we can’t take off when we need to take it off.

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Catch you all later!!

#Neurodiversity #Autism #Employment #MentalHealth #Inclusion