While Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has let it be known in several recent interviews that several different things have led to him wanting out of Pittsburgh this offseason, it’s clear that his fractured relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is one of the reasons he no longer wants to be part of the organization. During a recent sit-down interview with Jeff Darlington of ESPN, Brown was asked if things between the wide receiver and Roethlisberger started to go south a couple of years ago when the quarterback called him out during his weekly radio show.
“Criticism really is a part of the job. You know what I’m saying? I asked for criticism with achievement,” Brown said. “It doesn’t matter when someone called me out. If you call me out right now, if I give you more negative words, it’s just going to be an exchange. I just answer criticism with my actions, what I do as far as my achievements. I love Ben. Ben’s my quarterback, you know, he’s feeding me the ball. You know what I mean? He takes care of me. I’m not worried about him calling me out. But you know, on the professional level it’s like, yo, like if I’m your guy and make me know I’m your guy. You know? You know what I mean?
“Don’t say I’m your guy and then call me out. See, now that’s an issue. You know what I mean? If you want to call me out and we’re going to live upon those rules, let’s do it, because I’m always in for a challenge to hold myself to all kinds of standards. You know what I mean? Of commitments of excellence. So, if that’s all we’re living by, that’s the standard, let the standard be the standard. But don’t say I’m your guy and then point fingers. Don’t say I’m your guy and don’t know throw me the ball the whole first quarter. Don’t say I’m your guy and you’re asking my coach, ‘Yo, what’s wrong with AB?’ Or I’m injured in training camp, I got to go away to get treatment and now you tell the coach to come down on me, and then my guy calls me and tells me, like he’s the one that got the coach on me. I’m like, yo, this is my quarterback?”
As you can see, Brown feels like Roethlisberger is calling him his guy one minute, but not treating him like his guy the next. This is what obviously led to Brown saying over a week ago that Roethlisberger acts more like an owner than he does a teammate.
The Steelers absolutely need to trade Brown for whatever they can get for him at this point as it’s just impossible to fathom him ever being integrated back into the team’s locker room moving forward. Brown has let loose with a lot of criticism of Roethlisberger over the course of the last several days and it will be interesting to hear the Steelers quarterback respond to it all the next time he addresses the media. By the way, Saturday is Roethlisberger’s birthday. That’s some present Brown has given him.
If only Roethlisbefger had had Brown over to his house more then maybe none of this would have transpired the way it has.
“I would’ve liked for me and Ben to be cool,” Brown said. “You know what I mean? I thought we was cool. But when I think … I’ve been to his house one time. He’s been to my house one time. You know what I mean? We don’t work out in the offseason. You think that’s winning? That’s not winning.”
