Antonio Brown believes his “super aggressive” behavior was triggered by being hit by another NFL player.
On Friday, Brown went live on Instagram and claimed former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison is the reason for his brain trauma.
In the video, Brown says that Harrison wore an illegal helmet for a significant period of time during his football career, which caused him to suffer from CTE.
“I wanted to tell you guys that I think James Harrison gave me CTE,” he said during the live. “James Harrison had an illegal helmet for over 20 years in the NFL and he hit me one time. And ever since he hit me, I’ve been super aggressive. So blame James Harrison for my CTE.”
A number of athletes experience Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which is a brain injury that is caused by being repeatedly hit in the head or having many concussions.
It’s unclear when the hit Brown is referring to happened, especially since the two were teammates for majority of their careers. Brown and Harrison played together on the Steelers, so the hit may have occurred during practice or when Harrison played for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Throughout the years, Brown has faced a slew of allegations stemming from his aggressive behavior. In 2018, Brown was hit with a lawsuit for throwing furniture off of a balcony that almost hit a 22-month old child. The following year, he settled a sexual assault case with a former trainer. A year later, Brown was accused of attacking a mover which ended with him paying the mover $1.2 million.
