Antonio Brown requested – and received – a trade out of Pittsburgh for one reason. He says it wasn’t due to being snubbed of a Team MVP vote, it didn’t have to do with playing time or production. He wanted to win. And the Steelers weren’t going to help him get a ring.
Brown appeared on Jason Whitlock’s Fearless podcast Tuesday and opened up as to why he left the team.
“I [wanted] to get out of Pittsburgh because I was realizing we’re not gonna win the Super Bowl,” Brown told Whitlock. “We’re not gonna do anything great. How we gonna do anything great? You putting your top receiver against a kid, he’s a rookie…you think a rookie receiver gonna be able to take two double teams and the best guy every week? He’s not even prepared.”
Brown’s referring to WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, though his timeline is a little off. Smith-Schuster was part of a strong 2017 draft class, one that produced T.J. Watt, Cam Sutton, James Conner, and Smith-Schuster. Brown played through the 2018 season with the team and Smith-Schuster was an impact player in his rookie and sophomore seasons. Over that span, he caught 169 passes for 2,343 yards and 14 touchdowns. There’s no question Brown’s presence helped single up Smith-Schuster, defenses rolling to AB’s side, but Smith-Schuster made plays when left one-on-one.
Though Brown has been critical of Smith-Schuster in the past and has referenced his 2018 MVP snub that went to Smith-Schuster as an aggravating factor to why he wanted off the roster, he now claims Smith-Schuster had nothing to do with Brown’s trade demand. He told Whitlock his goal was to “be a champion.”
“It wasn’t about who they’re promoting. It’s about the team being able to go to the next level and win the championship. Forget who you’re promoting. Are we gonna win 2018? I don’t even think we made the playoffs then. We made the playoffs against Cleveland. I didn’t play. They lost the first game at home.”
Pittsburgh went 9-6-1 in 2018 and failed to make the playoffs. Brown did not play in the regular season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals though the Steelers won anyway, 16-13. Ben Roethlisberger completed passes to nine different eligibles that day, spreading the ball around with Brown out, as WRs James Washington, Eli Rogers, and Smith-Schuster led the charge.
Brown offered similar commentary in February but his interview with Whitlock was more coherent than his previous discussion. This time, he was more clear and expansive as to the reasons why he was done with the Steelers though they’re still inconsistent with some of the explanations he’s offered in past years.
Perhaps most inconsistent of all was where he landed. Pittsburgh sent Brown to the Oakland Raiders ahead of the 2019 season, a team who went 4-12 in 2018 and hadn’t won (and still haven’t) a playoff game since the 2002 season. Brown never played a down for the team, antics forcing the Raiders to release him two days before the regular season began. He would play one game for the New England Patriots that season before again being cut. Eventually, he’d reunite with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl ring with the Bucs in 2020. In 2021, he stormed off the field mid-game, was immediately cut, and hasn’t played again.
With his career presumably over, the only outstanding football question is whether or not the Hall of Fame inducts him someday. Brown will first become eligible in 2027.
