One of the best organizations in the NFL, tied with the Patriots for the most Super Bowl wins, is the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have been well known for their talent, wins, coaching and Super Bowl wins from the 1970s to now. In the ’70s Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls with quarterback Terry Bradshaw and head coach Chuck Noll. Today they have Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin as head coach at the helm. With the success of Big Ben, Pittsburgh has won two more Super Bowls in 2005 and 2008. However, the past ten years after the Steelers sixth Super bowl a new player created a legacy and helped contribute the same competitive Steelers. That player is Antonio Brown.
Antonio Brown is a wide receiver on the Pittsburgh Steelers with the number 84. Brown was drafted from Central Michigan in the 2010 NFL Draft in the sixth round as the 195th pick. At first, Brown just handled kickoff returns but eventually was used around the offense gaining the role of wide receiver. From 2011 onward Brown set all sorts of records, such as receptions, TDs and receiving yards. From 2013 to 2017 he was the first Steeler to receive 1,000 yards every five years. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as strong in 2018 after being the number one receiver in 2017. That’s when everything went downhill.
Previously, in 2017 Brown would be furious when he wasn’t receiving the ball as much as he had hoped, but eventually caught more passes. After this past season concluded to 2017 it was a different story. Before 2018 concluded after the week two loss against the Kansas City Chiefs at home by a score of 42-37, Brown made it clear he was not happy with the team and how he wasn’t getting chances to receive. Toward the end of the game, Brown walked off the field before everyone else, resulting in a scolding from Mike Tomlin.
As the season progressed the Steelers played better and Brown was receiving the ball again once more. Eventually, when late November approached, the Steelers lost their last 4 out of 6 games resulting in a final record of 9-6-1. With this record, the Steelers fell short of the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Before the Steelers hosted the Bengals in a week 17 game at Heinz Field, it was reported Brown threw a helmet at one of his teammates out of frustration. Brown did not dress for week 17 and did not play in the Pro Bowl. Also Brown took off the Steelers caption he used for all social media. Moreover, this past Tuesday he officially requested a trade out of Pittsburgh after nine successful seasons.
Everything in Pittsburgh is out of control. First of all, Le’Veon Bell being franchise tagged twice in two years is disgraceful. Sure $14.5 million is a lot, but look what happened to Earl Thomas on the Seahawks. Thomas was injured early this past season and didn’t have a full contract. Todd Gurley has a full contract for four years resulting in $60 million. Now with Antonio Brown, chaos is looming for the Steelers.
With Ben Roethlisberger, JuJu Smith-Schuster, a young defense and a decent offensive the Steelers will always be a force to be reckoned with. In addition, having Bell and Brown many think they’d be unstoppable. Right now that is not the case. Constantly, drama looms in Pittsburgh day in and day out. Nobody knows the future for a talented receiver like Brown, but he clearly stated he will not be seen in a Pittsburgh uniform the rest of his career.
Overall, Pittsburgh will always have that winning reputation. With or without Brown fans expect them to be competitive and play each game with intensity.
