Buccaneers star Antonio Brown and his teammate Mike Edwards have been suspended from playing in multiple games without pay for COVID-19 violations.
“National Football League announced today discipline of three players for violating jointly developed and administered NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 protocols,” ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter captioned his post on Instagram Thursday. (RELATED: Authorities Confiscate Over 3,000 Fake COVID-19 Vaccination Cards)
“Tampa Bay’s Antonio Brown and Mike Edwards have each been suspended without pay for the next three games,” his post added. “Free agent John Franklin III, if signed by a club, is also ineligible to play in the next three games.”
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“All three players have accepted the discipline and waived their right of appeal,” Schefter continued.
A statement from the NFL on its website said Brown, Edwards and Franklin III’s suspensions were “effective immediately.” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
“The health and safety of players and personnel is our top priority,” the NFL and NFLPA shared with CBS Sports in a joint statement. “The protocols were jointly developed working with our respective experts to ensure that we are practicing and playing football as safely as possible during the ongoing pandemic.”
“The NFL-NFLPA jointly reinforce their commitment and further emphasize the importance of strict adherence to the protocols to protect the well-being of everyone associated with the NFL,” the statement added.
Schefter’s post noted the player’s association and NFL did a joint review into allegations the three players in the league had reportedly “misrepresented their vaccination status” under the NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 Protocols. His post added that an investigation into the allegations supported those claims and found that all three had violated the protocols.
The Tampa Bay Times previously reported the WR was accused of allegedly obtaining a fake coronavirus vaccine card.