Miami (AFP) – Former NFL star Antonio Brown will accept a plea deal to avoid a potential 30-year prison sentence in his attempted murder case stemming from a shooting last year, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Brown, a star receiver in Tom Brady’s 2021 Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, allegedly fired multiple shots at another man after grabbing a handgun from a security guard during an altercation at an amateur boxing event in Miami in May 2025. Brown, 38, said he had acted in self-defense after being suddenly assaulted by multiple individuals who were attempting to steal his jewelry and cause him physical harm, and had pleaded not guilty. The charge carried a 20-year minimum mandatory sentence if convicted.
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Attorney Mark Eiglarsh said that while his client maintained his innocence and was confident he would have been cleared at trial, prosecutors had “made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.” The criminal charge against Brown will be changed from attempted murder to “a significantly reduced charge and probation,” said Eiglarsh in a statement to AFP.
After “more than ten and a half months of uncertainty, Brown and his family have made the difficult decision to bring this chapter to a close,” said the statement. “Antonio has eight children who depend upon him, and every additional day this case remains unresolved creates extraordinary obstacles for him in securing endorsement opportunities and other business opportunities necessary to support his family,” added Eiglarsh.
Brown’s decision to accept the deal should not be interpreted as a retreat from his position that he acted lawfully, he added. Brown is set to formally accept the deal at a hearing next Wednesday at a Miami courthouse. Eiglarsh did not specify the nature of the “significantly reduced charge,” though multiple US media outlets reported Brown will plead no contest to aggravated assault.
The incident is the latest in a long line of legal problems faced by Brown, who spent most of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers before linking up with NFL great Brady and the Buccaneers in 2021. Brown was accused of sexual assault by a former trainer in a 2019 civil suit which he later settled, and also pleaded no contest to burglary and battery in 2020 after an incident with a removal truck company outside his home.
His NFL career came to an end after he famously removed his jersey and stormed off the field during a Tampa Bay game against the New York Jets in 2022. Brown was extradited from Dubai to the United States last November to face charges in the shooting case.
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