Since his days in Pittsburgh, former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown’s life off the field has taken a turn for the worse.
He’s constantly in headlines for all the wrong reasons, from arrest warrants for unpaid child support to altercations with moving company drivers, and even financial missteps as the owner of an Arena League team.
What should have been a great life as a future Hall of Fame receiver who still should be on the field dominating, Brown has gotten in his own way and derailed his own career — and life.
Not that former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall sees it that way.
Appearing on the “Raw Room” podcast, Mendenhall stated that he’s not reading into the headlines that surround Brown because of the personal relationship he has with the former Steelers star.
“I was like next to him as a lot of this shit is happening, so I’m not being deterred by the headlines and by the media and by what they saying about this person, this man, you know? Because I know him. I’ve known him since 2010,” Mendenhall said of Brown, then taking a second to pause and gather his thoughts, according to video via the Raw Room’s YouTube page. “…I’ll say this, man: If he was the guy they were making him out to be, if he was the villain, if he was this wild, this crass, I don’t think he could have done what he’s done in the NFL at the level and in the way.”
Mendenhall was Brown’s teammate from 2010 when Brown was drafted, through the 2012 season before leaving the Steelers, spending one season with the Arizona Cardinals. After his time in the NFL, Mendenhall spent some time working with Brown in the entertainment industry. Mendenhall was a writer for the popular HBO show “Ballers” featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Brown guest-starred on a few episodes.
But outside of that, Mendenhall stating he was next to Brown when a lot of things were happening to him seems like a major stretch. Brown’s downfall started around 2018 and has continued considerably since then.
That said, there’s public perception of a person and the real perception outside of the limelight. Maybe Mendenhall knows a different side of Brown, but what the public knows to this point isn’t pretty.
As far as not being able to become one of the greatest receivers in NFL history if Brown was this “villain” “wild” and “crass” person that the media makes him out to be, that is simply not true from Mendenhall. Plenty of players have been terrible human beings in the history of the NFL yet have become great players overall.
There’s a life on the field, and there’s a life off the field. Players can seemingly separate that and be great on the field with an incredible drive to reach the height of their profession, but then be bad eggs off the field. We see it all the time.
But Mendenhall’s comment on Brown raises a bigger question, at least for this writer: if Brown isn’t this wild person off the field that the media is portraying him to be, then who is he? These aren’t opinion pieces or made-up situations Brown finds himself in.
There’s an old saying: When a person shows you who they are repeatedly, believe them. Brown has shown who he is time and time again in recent years. Might be time for Mendenhall to start believing him.
