Bruce Arians – Tampa Bay Buccaneers did their ‘due diligence’ regarding Antonio Brown’s vaccination status

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said Friday that he has no reason to believe wide receiver Antonio Brown procured a fake COVID-19 vaccination card and that the team did its due diligence in vetting player vaccine cards.

“None whatsoever,” Arians said. “We did our due diligence. The league will do theirs. The statement says everything. I really don’t think it’s a story, and it has nothing to do with the Giants game.”

When it was brought up that player health and safety does impact every game, considering Brown missed Week 3 because of a positive COVID-19 test, Arians quipped, “No, it doesn’t. It has nothing to do with the Giants game.”

On Thursday, in an article in the Tampa Bay Times, Brown’s former live-in chef, Steven Ruiz, who also took on the role of a personal assistant, accused Brown of obtaining a fake vaccine card, after Ruiz was allegedly asked by Brown’s girlfriend, Cydney Moreau, how to go about obtaining one for each of them.

Ruiz said he told her he’d “look into it,” but he never obtained the cards, which is not only subject to the NFL personal conduct policy but also a federal crime.

“I was very uncomfortable,” Ruiz told ESPN on Friday. But he said Brown obtained a card from a Buccaneers teammate.

“He got them from another player who was selling them,” said Ruiz, who declined to name the player. “That player came over to the house multiple times. He had to get another copy of Cyd’s vaccine card because they got her birthday wrong on the first one.”

“I’m gonna sit on it for a little while,” Ruiz said. “The truth will eventually come out. If this does become a bigger and deeper investigation to follow the NFL — just to get into legal terms — this will all come to light.”

Moreau denied the accusation and told the Times that she doesn’t know Ruiz, who provided screen captures of the alleged request to the newspaper.

Brown’s attorney, Sean Burstyn, denied that Brown obtained a fake vaccine card. He asked for proof of a…