The Steelers and Antonio Brown have experienced problems in the recent past, and another appears to have cropped up.
The four-time All-Pro wide receiver was involved in an evidently significant dispute with an unnamed teammate, and that — and not an injury — caused him to miss Sunday’s season finale, Gerry Dulac and Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.
Brown and this teammate’s confrontation occurred Wednesday, and the receiver threw a football at this player, per the Pittsburgh duo. Brown skipped the Steelers’ Saturday walkthrough, and a team meeting, and left Sunday’s game at halftime, with Bouchette and Dulac reporting Brown surprised teammates by showing up at Heinz Field expecting to play. He did not practice last week, but several Steelers sources said Brown’s knee was not an issue.
Brown showing up Sunday with the intention to play surprised several teammates, and one source informed the Post-Gazette tandem it was the 30-year-old pass-catcher’s decision not to practice during the week. Brown was initially listed as absent from practice due to to a coach’s decision, before “knee” was added to subsequent injury reports.
Brown’s recent issues go back a bit. Brown also skipped a meeting prior to the Steelers’ pivotal Saints matchup, with Bouchette and Dulac reporting he was in the building where the meeting took place but skipped the actual meeting. The Steelers beat the Bengals on Sunday, but only by three points. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Two seasons ago, Brown ran into trouble for streaming Mike Tomlin‘s divisional-round victory address on Facebook Live. This year, he responded to a former Steelers employee’s perceived social media slight by tweeting “Trade me let’s find out” regarding how valuable he is to Pittsburgh.
Brown signed a four-year, $68MM extension with the Steelers in 2017. He and JuJu Smith-Schuster have formed an elite receiving tandem, with Brown scoring 15 touchdowns in 15 games and Smith Schuster taking a big leap from his rookie year and leading the Steelers in receiving. Three seasons remain on Brown’s contract.
Hard to believe. Don’t see Tomlins name here.
Man the Steelers had a lot of drama this year. The Seahawks had similar issues and jettisoned their problems. Maybe the Steelers should too?
AB to SF for #2
As much as it pains me to say this, maybe it’s time to trade Brown.
Maybe he’ll grow up during the off season. Wait….he’s over 30. Fully grown but still a manchild.
Agree. Trade AB to a WR hungry team for top draft picks and draft his replacement. The window is closing on this group and they don’t need this BS.
They might trade him. They have had many troubles with brown. If they don’t start winning consistently he might want to go.
Yeah I think it’s time for him to go JuJu is ready for the next step
Hello Buffalo!!!
Dallas would be awesome
Brown would look AMAZING in a Bills uniform!!!
I think desaun Watson and the Texans would love him and he would get a rising quarterback. He also could go to the chiefs. He would be able to teach the young quarterbacks some things. He would be a great influence on them.
Like everyone else, I’m going to throw out my team here. How bout the jags? They have a top pick, a problematic Leonard fournette, etc…
I gotta believe we can use our payroll to finally get a number 1 receiver for first time since jimmy Smith!