Skip Bayless Blames Social Media for the Demise of NFL Star Antonio Brown: ‘He Became Addicted’

Antonio Brown’s Sunday meltdown has been blamed on mental health issues, immaturity or simply being a jerk. But according to Fox Sports host Skip Bayless, the real culprit is social media.

“Antonio Brown became the first high-profile victim in sports of social media…He went over the edge into it,” Bayless said on Undisputed. “And he couldn’t come back from it because he became obsessed with it. He became addicted. It’s a form of attention deficit disorder where you just need constant attention. It will give it to you sometimes, maybe oftentimes for all the wrong reasons.”

Sunday afternoon, Brown abruptly quit on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During the third quarter of Tampa’s game against the New York Jets, Brown began stripping his uniform off and paraded across the field into the locker room. Following the game, Bucs head coach Bruce Arians confirmed Brown was no longer a member of the Bucs.

The 33-year-old wide receiver was supposed to be on his best behavior when joining Tampa Bay last year, but the Bucs already let him slide on one incident this season when Brown was caught using a fake vaccination card. The on-field meltdown was the final straw for Brown’s tenure in Tampa.

“All of his bad behavior got reinforced. If not even flat out encouraged by those who…want you to thumb your nose,” Bayless added of Brown’s social media following.

Social media can be a dangerous and toxic place at times. And Brown has been involved in multiple social media scandals; recklessly live streaming locker room speeches and leaking conversations with NFL head coaches. According to Bayless, all of Brown’s social media exploits helped the wide receiver to reach a tipping point on Sunday, when his latest outburst was caught live on national television.

Watch above via Fox Sports