During this past offseason, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown spent some time working out and training with the great Randy Moss, who is sure to be enshrined soon in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During a recent interview with Teresa Varley of steelers.com, Moss was asked about Brown and where he currently ranks him among today’s NFL receivers.
“I have him and Dez Bryant as 1A and 1B,” said Moss who caught 982 passes for 15,292 yards and 156 touchdowns during his long career. “I look at those guys and there are certain wide receivers that if you put them in a certain system they would excel. I think Antonio Brown and Dez Bryant are those types of receivers that you can put them in any kind of system they can go and be dominant.”
While Brown certainly didn’t post great stats during the Steelers first three games that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed with his left MCL sprain, the former sixth-round draft pick did rebound this past Sunday in the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs as he caught 6 passes for 124 yards.
Moss went on to say that Brown’s work ethic is the main reason why the Central Michigan product has been able to overcome all of the knocks that he faced coming out of college.
“Just by being a small guy, from Central Michigan, a sixth round pick, he has always been the underdog. I have always been a fan of underdogs because I was one myself,” said Moss of Brown. “I was a basketball player, basketball build, skinny, everybody thought I was going to get broken up, wouldn’t last long in the National Football League.
“So I have always been a fan of underdogs. In the short period of time the things he has accomplished, I think that’s what keeps him going, striving to be the best. I looked at him this offseason and his work ethic and thought if he can keep this going 10 plus years, the sky is the limit.”
Sunday, Brown figures to have Roethlisberger back on the field with him for the first time since Week 3 for the Steelers home game against the Cincinnati Bengals. So far during his career, Brown has caught 49 passes for 741 yards and two touchdowns against the Bengals and that includes the two great games that he had against them last season that included him catching a total of 16 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown.
Moss knows all about the great players the Steelers have had play for them throughout the history of their franchise and he firmly believes that Brown has a chance to be remembered as yet another one them based on what he’s seen out of him during his first five-plus years in the league.
“Here in Pittsburgh, this franchise is legendary. I can name 50 players. I told him if you can keep up this work at this pace, and keep being dominant, you will be one of the legends in Pittsburgh,” said Moss. “You have Lynn Swann, Franco Harris, and Hines Ward. I don’t see why Antonio Brown can’t be in that category.”
Brown enters Week 8 with 436 career receptions for, 5,930 yards and 30 touchdowns. With 70 receiving yards on Sunday against the Bengals, Brown will become the fifth player in team history with 6,000. He also needs 89 yards receiving to surpass Louis Lipps (6,018) for the fourth-most in franchise history.
