A brief history of Antonio Brown’s insane nicknames

Before he left the Bucs as a ‘super gremlin’, Antonio Brown has built a storied history of calling himself by any other name — here are a few of them. 

Antonio Brown ended his Buccaneers career, likely ended his NFL career, and probably ended his chance at a Hall of Fame bust in one fell swoop on Sunday when he rage-quit the Bucs in real life.

Before the game, Brown channeled some “super gremlin” energy on social media, using it to explain that’s why he quit mid-game.

A day later, reports are emerging that AB’s departure had to do with a nagging ankle injury, although what exactly went down between Brown and the Bucs coaching staff remains unclear. What is known is that Brown pulled a Vontae Davis and unexpectedly quit mid-game, a flourishing finish to what has become one of the most disappointing NFL careers to witness.

Full of promise and legendary potential, Antonio Brown was regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the league, but erratic behavior off the field — which eventually crept onto the field — effectively ruined his career. But long before Brown begged the Bucs to “sign AB” this offseason, Brown has flashed his eccentric perspective through a series of self-ascribed nicknames.

Although Brown is enduring a great deal of name-calling after his latest fiasco, here is a list of the some of the most popular nicknames AB has given himself.

Ronald Ocean (2016)

“My last name’s Ocean — Ronald Ocean.”

Back in Dec. 2016, Antonio Brown insisted that reporters began referring to him as Ronald without an explanation why. One week later, Brown added to that nickname, referring to himself as Ronald Ocean, the reason being “top secret.”

It was a bizarre moment at the time, back when Brown was the NFL’s leading receiver and fantasy football pick.

A year later, Brown allowed Ocean to explain his origins in a comedic sketch, stating that Ocean was “born on the ocean” and is “always with the wave.” At the time, Ronald Ocean seemed to just be a humorous, fur-wearing alter ego, the first iteration of many for AB.

Boomin’ (2017)

In 2021, Antonio Brown introduced himself on primetime television as a former student of Boomin’ University, but Brown has been boomin’ since at least 2017.

On Feb. 17, 2017, Brown debuted Boomin’ Productions, the “official media house for Antonio Brown.” In the channel’s first post, Brown has a conversation with his other alter ego, Ronald Ocean.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQoGYuilvvX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Derived from the phrase “business is booming”, Brown has used the moniker to describe everything from his business savvy to his level of play. In his final game as a Buccaneer, his back pad displayed “Boomin” in capital letters.

Brown’s Twitter bio begins with “Business Is Boomin”, indicating that Boomin is a branding effort intended to describe all that Antonio Brown does. He’s applied it to football, of course, but Boomin also showed up during Brown’s rap-centric hiatus from football. The last post from Brown’s Boomin Productions account was as a Raider in August 2019, but Brown has stuck with the name ever since.

Tony Toe-Tap (2017)

One of the milder nicknames Antonio Brown gave himself was during a September matchup against one of his longtime friends, Xavier Rhodes.

Rhodes and Brown grew up in the same Miami-area neighborhood and have trained together in the offseason, and in 2017, the two were at the peak of their respective positions.

So when the Vikings played against the Steelers, Rhodes and Brown weaved back and forth on the field, as Rhodes endeavored to interrupt the success of his friend.

“I gotta step on his toes a little bit more,” Brown mused from the bench.

When a sideline catch was disputed, Brown insisted that he had both feet inbounds before falling off the sideline, and the referees proved Brown right.

https://youtu.be/M0s_T6mRIFY?t=138

“You know I’m Tony Toe-Tap,” Brown shrugged as Rhodes laughed.

“Tony is a little bit more flashy. Antonio is chill, is like nonchalant,” Brown later said of his clever moniker.

What Brown said of these split egos hints at his future with the Buccaneers, where a calm Brown seemed subdued for much of his time with the team — until he was suspended for his false COVID vaccine card.

According to Sportscasting, “Brown went on to explain that Antonio is ‘at peace’ much of the time, having a constant demeanor without many highs or lows in his personality. Tony, on the other hand, ‘is a little up and down.’”

Mr. Big Chest (2019)

After Antonio Brown asked Yinzers to call him “Ronald Ocean”, he asked Steelers fans to disassociate with his more widely-accepted nickname, A.B.

“Call me Mr. Big Chest!” he said during a workout video where he claimed to be done with the Steelers.

“Big Chest from now on! Big Chest Brown from now on!” Brown exclaimed.

While Brown doesn’t seem to be calling himself Mr. Big Chest anymore, Reddit has never stopped calling him Mr. BC. The long-running joke on NFL Reddit is to see who can come up with the best iteration of “Mr. B___ C____.” Favorites include “Mr. Bounced Check” after he failed to pay his chef, “Mr. Balcony Catapult” after he threw furniture off of his balcony, and “Mr. Blown Career” after Sunday’s game.

Himothy/Himmothy (2020)

While Boomin is used to describe what Antonio Brown does, Ronald Ocean apparently wasn’t enough to describe who he is.

Utilizing his wordplay skills in the most bizarre of ways, Brown began referring to himself as Himothy, an egocentric version of the name Timothy.

Who is Himothy? Well… it’s him.

More specifically, it’s a term that’s been used to describe someone who is the guy, being used to describe athletes such as Nic Claxton and Joe Burrow.

In 2020, Brown was languishing outside of the NFL, so he decided to focus on his entertainment career by starting a new career in rap. Nearly three years after he shared Boomin Productions on social media, Brown released an album titled “Himothy.”

The 28-track project featured classics such as “Home From The N.O.” (which played nicely into the Bucs celebrating after defeating the Saints in the NFC Divisional Round) and “Whole Lotta Money” featuring Rick Ross.

Himothy is also featured in Brown’s Twitter profile after the phrase “Super Bowl Champion LV”, although he’s changed the spelling to Himmothy.

What the future holds for Himothy

The day of his release, Brown immediately pivoted back to his rap career, releasing a track titled, “Pit Not The Palace.” On the single’s cover art, Brown has his AB initials resting on his forehead, meaning that he hasn’t let go of AB entirely after all.

Antonio Brown will always be known as AB, identify with the number 84, and be remembered on Reddit as MBC. Identities like Ronald Ocean may be lost to time, but what will endure is Brown’s ability to constantly reinvent himself — although he likely will never be able to do it again on an NFL field.