Arguably a top 2 or 3 wideout in today’s game, let’s first start with some important stats to back up Antonio Brown’s talent in case you’ve been under a rock for the last nine years:
- Over 11,207 receiving yards in his nine seasons
- 837 receptions averaging 13.4 yards per reception
- 74 career touchdowns including 15 this season
- Selected to seven Pro Bowls out of nine seasons in the league, four being First-Team All Pro
We’ve all followed along with the Steel City soap opera since September of 2018. It all started as the Steelers fell to 0-2 to Kansas City. AB was expressively upset on the sideline at not just OC Randy Fichtner, but also WR coach Darryl Drake. Starting winless through two weeks in the NFL can be a death sentence of sorts so the emotion makes some sense.
However, that same night, former Steelers employee Ryan Scarpino tweeted, “AB needs to thank his lucky stars, because he was drafted by a team that had Ben. And Ben got AB paid. You know darn well he wouldn’t put up those numbers for other teams.”
Brown didn’t miss a beat in his response as he replied with, “Trade me let’s find out.” And the whole league was ablaze. Oh, did I mention he didn’t show up for practice the following Monday? Citing ‘personal reasons’ and taking back his ‘stupid remark’ on Twitter, it just added fuel to the fire as the rest of the league, fans included, got their popcorn ready.
Fast forward to the final game of the season where Brown would not be playing. After all, he did skip multiple practices leading up to the regular season finale against the Bengals. Once referring to a nagging knee injury that kept him off the field would end up becoming a lot more clear: Brown had a mid-practice meltdown early in the week prior during a routine walkthrough. Roethlisberger would later clarify that AB was asked to run a hot read and it made him feel ‘under appreciated.’ Oy.
So the question of the hour remains this: Which holds more weight- on field stud or locker room distraction? In my many years as an NFL fan, it would appear that the answer to that widely varies from team to team. Based on years of testimony from teammates, coaches, and staff it is clear that Antonio Brown is one of the hardest working stars in the National Football League.
You do have to assume that a new team with a clean slate will get that Pro Bowl production out of Brown, without the drama. If you are in top-ten draft positioning and you need a “right now wide receiver,” you do not seem to be in the luckiest of places. It is a defensive-loaded draft and Brown has proven his value, whereas a rookie has to create their legacy from day one.
It will be an interesting couple of months as there are talks of AB landing in San Francisco and joining George Kittle in red and gold, though reports show a trade could cost the Steelers a hefty $21 mil.
It is also worth mentioning that the star receiver signed a hefty extension worth $73 million back in 2017. That would be a whole new piece of commentary, but I personally find that players tend to slowly begin to underachieve and create more issues conveniently after they are paid the big bucks. Hmmm. Predictions on what colors Antonio Brown wears next year?
He tweeted, “Is there more” just recently on 1/14/19 and we are certainly all ears to see that question answered.
