It seems as though debating the what-ifs of former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown is becoming something of a favored pastime. There’s no doubt that his tenure with the team was a remarkable one, one for the ages, but what if he’d been able to keep it going rather than blowing up his own career? Former teammate Bryant McFadden shared his thoughts on that matter recently.
“I’ll say this. If Antonio Brown stayed the course and just stayed dialed in…when it’s all said and done, he would’ve been a top-three, top-two wide receiver ever in the National Football League”, he said on the Maggie and Perloff show, on which he was a guest. “Ever”.
That’s no faint praise considering the rich history of excellence at the wide receiver position throughout NFL history, though one name in particular tends to get almost all of the votes for “GOAT” status: Jerry Rice. Randy Moss is frequently regarded as being just behind him. McFadden believes Brown would have been in that group, easily, had his own behavior not led to his tumultuous final seasons.
“I think Antonio would been clearly worst-case scenario top three all-time, best-case scenario number two right on the heels of Jerry Rice”, he said, noting that the big difference between him and Rice was the championships. “But outside of that, name me a player that had a more dominant six-year run than Antonio against the whos of who and still putting up numbers”.
Brown’s remarkably productive run between 2013-18 is frequently cited as being one of the greatest ever. In that six-year span, he caught 686 passes for 9,145 yards and 67 touchdowns. His average season during that time was 114 catches for 1,524 yards and 11 or more touchdowns. On average.
And during that time, he never had fewer than 101 receptions. He never gained fewer than 1,284 receiving yards. Only twice did he record single-digit touchdowns, and never fewer than eight. He had nine touchdowns in 14 games in 2017.
“We all witnessed the greatness from Antonio Brown”, McFadden said. “It didn’t matter who he was going against. It didn’t matter what time of the year it was. He showed up, and he showed out”.
And then he went insane. It wouldn’t be accurate to say that it began with his forcing his way off the Steelers’ roster in 2019, but it’s certainly where things began to come to a head. He quickly flamed out with the Las Vegas Raiders, seemingly orchestrating his release there before ever playing a down.
He was more than happy to then sign with the New England Patriots, but his tenure there was a brief one because of legal troubles. He was released after it came out that he threatened a witness in a case in which a woman accused him of raping her—with the text messages to show it.
That was just one particularly egregious event in his long list of legal troubles, which do tend to be more benign than that, but he also faced assault charges against a moving truck driver. He was also ordered to be arrested earlier this year.
It should be noted that his NFL story didn’t end after Pittsburgh. He actually went on to win a Super Bowl with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, putting up 87 receptions for 1,028 yards and eight touchdowns over 15 games played in a two-year span.
Brown retired having recorded 928 receptions for 12,291 yards and 83 touchdowns over a 12-year career, of which he only had a stable platform of a starter for seven years. He was still an extremely talented player at or near the height of his powers when it all turned south.
Certainly, if he had just kept his head on straight, whether he remained in Pittsburgh or otherwise, he could have easily eclipsed 1,000 receptions. He should have likely hit 15,000 yards as well, and perhaps over 100 touchdowns. As it is, he still ranks in the top 25 all-time in each category, but he was legitimately a top-five talent or better.
