We didn’t hear it directly from the horse’s mouth but if Terrell Owens is to be believed, Antonio Brown no longer wants to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. There’s a sentence that contains some…words I never thought I’d type in a lede before.
Owens hopped on Pro Football Talk’s podcast where the conversation centered about Brown and his future (or lack thereof) in the Steel City.
From PFT, who transcribed the interview.
“Absolutely,” Owens said regarding whether he’s gotten the impression that Brown wants out of Pittsburgh. “He wants to move on. . . . I don’t like how Ben [Roethlisberger] has kind of thrown him under the bus in certain instances. . . . I think Ben owes him a lot more respect than he has given him. . . . I mean even from the standpoint of him saying he didn’t know anything about a blowup [at practice prior to Week 17] when he was part of the blowup.”
Brown has certainly surrounded himself with plenty of ex-receivers known to be divas during their career. He’s close friends with Chad Johnson. They’ve trained in the offseason and most recently, smoked cigars while Brown proclaimed he’d soon give his side of the story. So far, he hasn’t.
On the podcast, Owens said he considers himself a mentor to Brown.
“He’s leaned on me for advice, as somewhat of a mentor, so to speak. . . . I think with him, I think it’s a fresh start to go elsewhere and part ways with the organization and with some of the things than he and Ben have been confronted with.”
Owens went on to say while he doesn’t know exactly where Brown would like to ideally end up, Brown asked him several times what the Bay Area is like. Owens, of course, was a 49er for many years earlier this century. A recent Instagram post showed Brown wearing a 49ers’ uniform.
As far as we know, given Art Rooney’s comments last week, Brown still hasn’t spoken with the team since the offseason began. Any potential trade talks will get kickstarted during the NFL Combine, where all 32 teams get together and there’s plenty of time to have serious discussions. Pittsburgh won’t be able to officially deal him until early March.
