EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,001 words- 0:01 – 1:46
Meeting Antonio Brown & the birth of his viral X persona
- NANarrator
(drum music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.
- NANarrator
The Joe Rogan Experience.
- NANarrator
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day.
- JRJoe Rogan
(instrumental music) Bro.
- ABAntonio Brown
Let's do it.
- JRJoe Rogan
What's going on, man? Pleasure to meet you. What's happening?
- ABAntonio Brown
How you doing, man? Good to see you, baby.
- JRJoe Rogan
Look at ... Papa, look at that ring.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Holy shit.
- ABAntonio Brown
Good to see you.
- JRJoe Rogan
Pleasure to meet you, man. The most fun follow on Twitter by far, excuse me, X.
- ABAntonio Brown
Thank you.
- JRJoe Rogan
Whatever they wanna call it. You're the most fun.
- ABAntonio Brown
Thank you, man. You ma-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
... you make my job easy, you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
All the entertainment you give me.
- JRJoe Rogan
How did you, uh, s- decide to start doing this? How did you ... First of all, were you always this funny?
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs) I would like to think so. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) But, like, your social media presence, like ... I forget who. I think Tony Hinchcliffe told me about you.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's like, "Dude, you have to follow Antonio Brown."
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
"You must fo- He's the most must follow on the internet." I'm like, "Really?" And then I go to your page, and I'm fucking dying laughing.
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
We're sharing it around the green room at the comedy store like, "Ah!" And then when I won cracker of the day, I was like, "Yes!"
- ABAntonio Brown
Yes. (laughs) Of the year.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes. Cracker of the year, that's right.
- 1:46 – 4:57
CTESPN: rebranding ‘crazy’ into CTE awareness and dark comedy
- JRJoe Rogan
How did you come up with, uh, #CTESPN? 'Cause that's my favorite.
- ABAntonio Brown
I feel like when I stopped playing football and I walked off the field, people was like, "This guy's crazy." Like, "He's retarded."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
You know what I'm saying? (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
"He's illiterate." So, you know, I was like, "You know what? Maybe I could, you know, rebrand CTESPN with, you know, giving people perspective of different challenges people face and-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
... great individuals, how they overcome adversity, and just kinda share in tune with perspective of, you know, how people is getting through trauma, you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- ABAntonio Brown
No matter if you're a football player. I mean, what it's like for you. You started damn UC ... UFC ... UC ... yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
UFC, like.
- JRJoe Rogan
You ... The, the reality of head trauma is something that we're all like ... As a society, we're just embracing over the last 10, 20 years.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, it wasn't for that Concussion movie. I think that opened up a lot of people's eyes.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
That Will Smith movie.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
And the story that doctor of him f- finding how many people have-
- ABAntonio Brown
Have.
- JRJoe Rogan
... like significant brain trauma from football.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yes. So for me, I try to use it i- 'cause this is a serious standpoint. A lot of ex-players and players have ... actually has been diagnosed and, you know, passed away from CT. So for me, you know, on a serious point of, you know, a, uh, bringing rec- uh, awareness and bringing, you know, a reality standpoint of what athletes and people fighting or anyone in they d- daily lives facing from head trauma, of just people writing 'em off, you know, and-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
... encouraging therapy, encouraging how do you get through tough situation a- and then making it funny.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- ABAntonio Brown
You know what I'm saying?
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- ABAntonio Brown
Because I feel like nowadays if you do something crazy, people are like, "Oh yeah, that guy's crazy." So it's like, "Let's just show why they crazy in CTESPN."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
And show (laughs) show what the, the cause of the craziness. You know what I mean?
- 4:57 – 6:24
Life after the league: money, identity loss, and ‘scavengers’
- JRJoe Rogan
That's the hardest thing, right? For like ... for pro athletes, you go from being a kid to all of the sudden you are making millions of dollars.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
And you're young-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and you're wild, and you're-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
... not thinking it's gonna go away, and then-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... all your friends are buying jewelry.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And all your friends are buying Mercedes Benz and Bentleys-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and all this shit, and you're like, "Fuck." And i- uh, I think the number was something like 85% of NFL players go bankrupt within X amount of years after retirement.
- ABAntonio Brown
Exactly, 'cause the lifestyle, you know, and making so much money and being able to transition in regards of having a new career and not making that much money all at once like you used to.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
You know? And I think sometime bankrupt could be used to protect assets in regards of people coming after you too, knowing you're a-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right. For sure.
- ABAntonio Brown
... big target when you're in position.
- JRJoe Rogan
Of course. Yeah. But that is another problem with-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... getting wealthy is that you become vulnerable to scoundrels and-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, scavengers.
- JRJoe Rogan
And dirty hoes.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, dirty hoe, dirt bag.
- JRJoe Rogan
Dirty, dirty money-grabbing, like-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah. Musty business.
- JRJoe Rogan
... like calculated hoes.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know, ones that-
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs)
- 6:24 – 7:35
Hypergamy, dating incentives, and the modern relationship marketplace
- JRJoe Rogan
Did, did you ever have situations where you thought, like, girls were trying to, like, get over on you?
- ABAntonio Brown
I just feel like nowadays, girls just want the BB ... like, the BBD, the biggest and better dill.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right. Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
It's like, you know what I'm saying? Who want-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's built into human nature.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, it's like, yeah, human nature-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's, that's genetic.
- ABAntonio Brown
... like, what's the next best thing?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. They, uh-
- ABAntonio Brown
So-
- JRJoe Rogan
... it's called hypergamy.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's, like, a natural state that women, uh-
- ABAntonio Brown
Stay in, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, they, they look for ... Like, if, if you're doing okay, but then all of a sudden, she starts working for a billionaire and he gets divorced and he's real friendly to her, next thing you know, she starts-
- ABAntonio Brown
In the op.
- JRJoe Rogan
She starts picturing that closet.
- ABAntonio Brown
Seeing the op, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
She starts picturing that closet-
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... seeing all those shoes and purses and-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... all that jewelry and-
- ABAntonio Brown
She start licking chops going to the movie theater.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, like, "I ... He's actually nicer to me than my boyfriend."
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, yeah. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And then they start justifying it, and next thing you know, old Jeff's a billionaire. (laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
She's going, she's going to the movie theater.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's hypergamy. Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
It- (laughs)
- 7:35 – 14:53
CTE realities: deaths of players, therapy, and coping with career trauma
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. When, when, you know, when you talk about CTE, um, wh- when did you first start noticing the effects of football?
- ABAntonio Brown
I feel like, to me, I always knew, like, the game was gonna come to an end. And I feel like, to me, I always played the game smart as a receiver, li- not putting myself in bad positions, getting hit. But I did have a chance to, you know ... Rest in peace Demaryius Thomas, one of the ex-receivers who came in the NFL around the time I came in. I had a chance to see him experience, you know what I'm saying, some of that CTE trauma. And then I met-
- JRJoe Rogan
How did he pass?
- ABAntonio Brown
From CTE.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah?
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
He passed from CTE?
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, when they studied his brain, yeah. 'Cause I don't want to speak about the-
- JRJoe Rogan
I understand.
- ABAntonio Brown
... problems that he really had, but-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
... you know, being a close friend to him, you know, we seen some of the experience that he was going through. And, uh, playing for Tampa my last year when we won the Super Bowl, I think it had a player, Vincent Jackson, rest in peace, also passed from, uh, CTE.
- JRJoe Rogan
(sighs)
- ABAntonio Brown
So for me, you know, it's, it's a real thing.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's a real thing.
- ABAntonio Brown
And, uh, not only just from the hits you take, but like you said, aftermath of-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- ABAntonio Brown
... your career or, you know, having a moment in your career, where some guys can't get over it or, you know, you done seen fighters have a fight where it may not go the way that they wanted to go-
- JRJoe Rogan
Uh-huh.
- ABAntonio Brown
... and it may could possibly affect the outcome of how they look at it. And I feel like we all have traumas in our lives from all-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- ABAntonio Brown
... no matter if you play sports or not.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
So just raising awareness of getting mental therapy and being able to, you know, work on yourself so you can have a better life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, that's a i- important point you brought up, like the psychology of a, of an athlete. You have to learn how to, like, put losses behind you and failures behind you-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and regain your confidence and then excel and move forward.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right?
- ABAntonio Brown
You got- You just gotta not let one moment overtake the overall moments of your career.
- 14:53 – 20:16
Walking off the field into music: Kanye connection and creative work ethic
- ABAntonio Brown
I didn't know what I was gonna do, but it s- it kinda just, like, happened. You know, I was making music, uh, with a distribution label, with video. So, as soon as I walked off the field, they released the music. Uh, I ended up linking with Kanye West right after.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs) After that, I was doing Rolling Loud. After that ... You know what I'm saying? So, for me, I was grateful, you know, as soon as I walked off the field. Music song dropped-
- JRJoe Rogan
How'd you link up with Kanye?
- ABAntonio Brown
Man, he was looking for me right when I walked off the field.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah. They was calling me, uh, Justin Laboy, like, uh, calling me in New York, like, "Yo, Kanye wanna meet you." I ended up flying to LA with, uh ... to meet, uh, Rich with Fashion Nova. And, uh, we met right in Craig's, randomly in Craig's, but he was looking for me in LA, and after that, ended up hanging with him, making his album, Donda 2, and then-
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- ABAntonio Brown
... just getting opportunities, so ...
- JRJoe Rogan
That's crazy.
- ABAntonio Brown
I've been blessed to be able to have that happen for me, you know, coming off the field.
- JRJoe Rogan
What is it like working with Kanye? 'Cause I can imagine that motherfucker's-
- ABAntonio Brown
Kanye, a lot of energy, genius-
- JRJoe Rogan
... driven.
- ABAntonio Brown
... uh, meetings at eight o'clock. All the music engi-
- JRJoe Rogan
8:00 AM or 8:00 PM?
- ABAntonio Brown
8:00 AM.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- ABAntonio Brown
Every day, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- ABAntonio Brown
All the engineers there, uh, everyone on the team, uh-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's unusual. Rappers at 8:00 AM?
- ABAntonio Brown
Nah, ye- ... Kanye is really a, a business guy who put in a lot of work. I know a lot of people see his rants and him going off, but he's really passionate about his work and, uh ...
- JRJoe Rogan
He's a genius.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's just scattered.
- ABAntonio Brown
Literally, literally.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's all over the place. And sometimes he goes a little off, a little ou- out- off the reservation, but-
- ABAntonio Brown
I feel like he think in a lot of forms that-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- 20:16 – 23:13
The ‘crash out bucket’ helmet and a jump into politics & division
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, what's with the helmet?
- ABAntonio Brown
I'm going to crash out.
- JRJoe Rogan
Why'd you, why'd you, why'd you choose the helmet?
- ABAntonio Brown
I feel like this is one of the lucrative helmets that they wear when they go to war.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) Lucrative?
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, lucrative.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
You know, this the crash out bucket, 'cause I feel like when you wear this helmet, you already crashed out. It's like you committed to the crash out, like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right, right, you're all in.
- ABAntonio Brown
All in. So I feel like we at war right now with the Democrats. I know you-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
Is that... Isn't that crazy to say? I know, but it is.
- JRJoe Rogan
That's crazy to say, but I know exactly what you're saying.
- ABAntonio Brown
Exactly.
- JRJoe Rogan
I just can't believe people will say it and it's true.
- ABAntonio Brown
It's wild life right now. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
What is ha- Like, the Democrats are now the Republicans.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yes, it's wild. The Democrat didn't even clap-
- JRJoe Rogan
They're the ones trying to control speech.
- ABAntonio Brown
They didn't even clap for the little kid.
- JRJoe Rogan
No, no.
- ABAntonio Brown
That was some bullshit.
- JRJoe Rogan
They didn't clap for the little kid, they didn't clap for the lady who-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... got fucked up by that volleyball player-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... that was a dude.
- ABAntonio Brown
We at war.
- 23:13 – 38:47
Award shows on X: massive engagement and why people crave fun again
- JRJoe Rogan
So, when you did the awards-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
... like, uh, who put that together?
- ABAntonio Brown
Me and my guy, uh, Jacob. We put it together.
- JRJoe Rogan
Genius.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Genius.
- ABAntonio Brown
That was amazing.
- JRJoe Rogan
And everybody loved it. It was huge.
- ABAntonio Brown
Everyone was loving it, yeah. I think it was bigger than the award show at the Oscars. I feel like we had a lot of numbers.
- JRJoe Rogan
You had a lot of numbers on X, man.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, a lot of people watched that. What was the final numbers on that?
- ABAntonio Brown
I think almost, uh, 200 million engagement on-
- JRJoe Rogan
That is so crazy.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, right on the X, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
That's so cr- But it's fun. People are starving for fun.
- ABAntonio Brown
It's fun, it's exciting. They need excitement.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
A little uncomfortable but a little cool, 'cause-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
... we make the uncomfortability cool when it's like things.
- JRJoe Rogan
Also, you're doing it all with a big smile.
- ABAntonio Brown
It's happiness, man.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, you're having a good time.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, having a good time, making people feel good.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
That's what we need more of.
- JRJoe Rogan
Are you gonna do more award shows?
- ABAntonio Brown
I need to. We need to do more, especially if you a part of it. If you gonna come support it, of course.
- 38:47 – 1:03:20
Free speech, old Twitter consequences, and the Rashard Mendenhall cautionary tale
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes. When you first started posting wild shit on Twitter-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... did, did anybody ever call you and go, "Hey man, you gotta stop..." (laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
Of course, everyone. They was like, "Bro, what the fuck?" (laughs) They were like calling my phone like, "Bro, you an idiot. You calling people crackers now? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
I'm like, "Bro, it's, it's an uncomfortable sense of humor for comedy, bro."
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, cracker is the most benign of all insults. That doesn't work at all.
- ABAntonio Brown
That's what I'm saying, it's like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Because-
- ABAntonio Brown
Everyone love crackers.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, no one's upset.
- ABAntonio Brown
Ritz Crackers, Cheez-Its.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. No one's upset.
- ABAntonio Brown
I just feel like when it first started, when I first started, they were like, "What the hell is you doing?"
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
Or if I get at it a day, they're like, "Whoa."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- ABAntonio Brown
You know what I mean? But I was like, "You know what? It's not meant to like... it's meant to bring people up to say like, 'Yo, we could have a funny moment.'" Like-
- JRJoe Rogan
For fun.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, fun.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, enjoy yourself, man.
- JRJoe Rogan
Enjoy yourself. Yeah. We-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
We need a lot more of that. And-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
But I think, you know, we were conditioned because of the way the old Twitter worked, to be very careful of what you said.
- ABAntonio Brown
Cautious. Yeah.
- 43:58 – 1:04:50
Internet chaos: memes, shock content, Snapchat surveillance, and growing up online
- ABAntonio Brown
No, I was texting myself.
- JRJoe Rogan
You don't Snapchat, do you?
- ABAntonio Brown
Nah, I don't really Snapchat.
- JRJoe Rogan
No, the kids Snapchat. My-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... my kids don't even text. They just snap their friends.
- ABAntonio Brown
Snapchat, eh, eh.
- JRJoe Rogan
They're in the middle of the movie theater or something, they'll just like take a weird face, send it to their friends. I'm like, "What are you doing?"
- ABAntonio Brown
They're ke-
- JRJoe Rogan
"This is a weird way to communicate."
- ABAntonio Brown
Snapchat's just got all the filters of the face, you could just make a crater with the text.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, yeah. Kids are just all in addicted to Snapchat.
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah, I was just texting my son.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know another thing that's weird too? Is they all have a Snap map so they know where they all are.
- ABAntonio Brown
Oh, they can see where you at all the time.
- JRJoe Rogan
They're like, "Oh, she's with him, that fucking bitch." You know? Like-
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) You see, you see where all your friends are.
- ABAntonio Brown
They stalking every sign, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You, like, you got a map of all your friends that you let follow you.
- ABAntonio Brown
You can see the whole layout, where everyone at.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, it's weird, man. They're all little surveillance experts.
- ABAntonio Brown
It's kind of awkward, right? Looking at it standing on the map. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, they're all little narcs. They're all narcing on each other. (laughs)
- ABAntonio Brown
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
But the crazy thing is they give it up to each other. They all-
- ABAntonio Brown
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, you have to ... If you have friends, you have to let your friends know where you are on the Snap map.
- ABAntonio Brown
That's right.
- JRJoe Rogan
And if you block it, like if you block them temporarily-
Episode duration: 1:44:42
Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript
Transcript of episode NZBjSE6HQ0I
