Antonio Brown insists he DID get Covid vaccine, despite being suspended by NFL for lying about vaccination status... but refuses to 'snitch' on players who 'faked' the shot

Antonio Brown has insisted he did get vaccinated against Covid-19, despite his 2021 suspension for allegedly misrepresenting his vaccination status. 

The NFL handed the former wide receiver a three-game suspension without pay in December 2021, while he was playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for lying about being vaccinated. 

Brown had been accused by his personal chef of attempting to pay for a fake COVID-19 vaccine card before the season in an effort to skirt the NFL's rules for unvaccinated players.

However, the controversial former NFLer has now hit back at those allegations, insisting that he did in fact receive the vaccine. 

'In the NFL we had to,' he told Jason Whitlock on the sports columnist's podcast. 'I did the Pfizer shot. I did it on camera too.' 

The Super Bowl winner clarified that it wasn't water or any other fake solution that he tried to pass off as the vaccine when pressed by Whitlock.  

Brown blamed the media for creating a false narrative when asked by Whitlock about the misperception of his vaccination status. 

'[They] Made a perception about me that wasn't a reality and that was just one of those things that I had to deal with in the media - that negativity,' he claimed. 

'Imagine that you've done all the right things and you're out there trying to be your best self for you and your family. That's all I was doing out there, trying to help the team be great. 

'Now I'm hurting, I can't provide a service. I've got a dark cloud over me, something to do with something wrong with the card. Then I proved them with my card and the shot and they still didn't change the narrative. They just left that out there.' 

Brown claimed that the NFL announced that an investigation was being carried out but didn't release the findings, which he claims would have revealed that he was vaccinated. 

Despite the league ultimately suspending him for misrepresenting his vaccination status, Brown suggested that the NFL and the media failed to 'correct the narrative.' 

'That's the part of journalism, they never tell the story when they're wrong,' he said. 'They never say, "oh that's my mistake, my perception isn't reality."'

Whitlock went on to ask Brown if he thinks any players did fake their vaccination status, the former wideout coyly began to say, 'I'm not here to,' before the host cut him off by finishing, 'I don't snitch.' To which, Brown laughed. 

'To each his own,' Brown added. 'I know I did what I had to the right way.'

At the time, the NFL didn't specify the allegations against Brown other than to say they misrepresented 'their vaccination status under the NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 Protocols.'

'The health and safety of players and personnel is our top priority,' the NFL and NFLPA said 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.'

Brown was allegedly interested in paying his personal chef $500 for a fake COVID-19 vaccination card so he could avoid the league's rules for unvaccinated players.

Brown's model girlfriend Cydney Moreau allegedly texted Los Angeles-based chef Steven Ruiz asking for a fake card - a violation of federal law - on July 2. 

'Can you get the COVID cards?' Moreau asked.

'I can try,' replied Ruiz, who had been working for Brown.

'JNJ shot. Ab said he would give you $500,' Moreau added, expressing preference for a card claiming that Brown got the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Brown has now claimed he got the Pfizer shot. 

Ruiz provided the text exchange to the Tampa Bay Times, which verified the phone numbers, after he fell out with Brown over an unpaid $10,000 debt.

The Bucs said Brown's card passed muster and didn't have any irregularities.