Antonio Brown’s lawyer has an interesting connection

Antonio Brown’s lawyer has an interesting connection to the world of motorsport, particularly American open-wheel racing and IndyCar.

One of the biggest headlines of this week in sports has been what went down on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey with the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers trailing the New York Jets by a score of 24-10 late in the third quarter.

Tom Brady and company, as usual, would come back to beat the Jets (28-24 final) to improve their record to 12-4 on the season, but not before a bizarre third quarter departure from star wide receiver Antonio Brown.

A frustrated Brown, who has been at the center of more than his fair share of off-field incidents throughout his NFL career, took off his jersey and shoulder pads before throwing his undershirt and gloves into the stands and leaving the game by running and jumping through the end zone while flashing the peace sign to the crowd, all the way to the tunnel.

More information from Brown’s camp has emerged since then, including a lengthy statement by Brown, via his lawyer, about an ankle injury from which he was suffering — and reportedly told to play through — ahead of his meltdown.

And that’s where things get interesting for motorsport fans, specifically fans of IndyCar: Brown’s lawyer happens to be former Road to Indy driver Sean Burstyn.

Burstyn also dealt with the situation surrounding Brown’s fake COVID-19 vaccination card earlier this season, one which resulted in a three-game suspension for the wide receiver. This suspension happened to coincide with his initial ankle injury.

As for his open-wheel racing career, Burstyn competed in the Star Mazda Championship in 2007, 2009 and 2010. He competed for John Walko Racing in one race at Sebring International Raceway in 2007 before joining Juncos Racing for a part-time campaign in 2009.

This was the Ricardo Juncos-owned team’s first season competing in the series, and they have gone on to become a Road to Indy powerhouse.

They are, of course, most known for their 2019 Indy 500 effort with Kyle Kaiser, which saw them qualify for the race by knocking out McLaren and two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso.

Burstyn competed in nine of the 13 races on the 2009 schedule and recorded a top finish of fifth place at Autobahn Country Club. In 2010, the first official Star Mazda Championship season under IndyCar’s Road to Indy ladder, he returned to Juncos Racing to compete at Autobahn Country Club and finished in 15th.

During his short stint in the Star Mazda Championship, Burstyn had the opportunity to compete against future IndyCar drivers and Indianapolis 500 starters in Conor Daly, Tristan Vautier and James Davison, plus several other drivers who went on to have success in other series. Both Daly and Vautier have competed full-time in the NTT IndyCar Series.