Antonio Brown appears to be paving his way for a return to Pittsburgh, will Steeler Nation embrace him?
With his recent apologies on radio and in social media, Antonio Brown appears to be paving his way for a return to Pittsburgh, will Steeler Nation embrace him once again?
Up until a few years ago, most of us Steeler fans loved AB. Many recently point to his behavior before and after the vicious Vontaz Burfict hit and are trying to draw a correlation to his erratic behavior. Many also feel that mental illness has been a part of AB’s epic meltdown over the last few years. Me personally, I blame the group of people that AB has surrounded himself with. These friends and family members should be helping AB more to keep him in check and get him the help he needs if there are issues outside of ego at play.
If AB is planning a return to the NFL, he’ll need to first keep himself off the commissioner’s exempt list. If any team including the Steelers decide to sign him, most likely some of the shenanigans he has pulled will land him on Roger Goodell’s list of exempt players due to off-the-field misconduct. AB has no one to blame for his self-destruction other than himself, but on the other hand, the Steelers could really use his productivity on offense. JuJu has proven himself more of a great number 2 receiver. But can JuJu and AB coexist once again? Also, he really blasted Big Ben in the past on social media and during interviews, can that relationship be fixed?
AB was a sixth round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010, and has accumulated more catches than any other player since he entered the league. The Steelers made it to the Super Bowl his rookie season, but lost to the Green Bay Packers. During his second year, Brown became the first player in history to have more than 1,000 yards receiving and returning in the same year. He also had stints on Dancing with the Stars and the Masked Singer.
After quite a few productive seasons in Pittsburgh where he and Big Ben broke all records, his relationship soured with the team. He was involved in several incidents while with the Steelers including throwing furniture out of his 14th- floor apartment, getting cited for speeding in excess of 100 mph, and quite a few on-the-field and off-the-field grown-man temper tantrums. FINALLY, he was traded this past off-season to the Oakland Raiders. They made him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL, however, after a very entertaining off-season, much of which was seen on this past season of “Hard Knocks,” he was released. Brown then signed with the New England Patriots, but then was cut after one game due to allegations of sexual assault.
Recently, AB publicly apologized on Pittsburgh’s THE FAN to Steeler fans and posted an apology to the Steelers and Big Ben. The bottom line is despite the horrible allegations and legal issues surrounding Brown, if the Steelers think he will help them win, they will do everything in their power to take a chance on him. The Steelers also have a track record of giving guys second chances like Mike Vick a few years ago. Winning continues to cure all in the NFL even for the Black and Gold. Heck, now Tomlin looks like a genius for being able to manage AB during his tenure here.
There is no questioning AB’s talent on the football field, his stats while in Pittsburgh, his work ethic, but time will tell if the Steelers’ organization and our fans give him another shot.