Over the last decade or two of Pittsburgh Steelers football, few players (if any) were as dominant over an extended period of time as WR Antonio Brown. He recorded over 1,000 receiving yards in seven out of eight years from 2011 to 2018 and was selected to seven Pro Bowls, four first-team All-Pro lists, and was the first- or second-runner up for the AP Offensive Player of the Year on three occasions. His individual stats and accolades are that of an all-time great player – one deserving of both team and league honors.
But there is one big issue: People have to actually vote for the guy. He has burned a lot of bridges and left a sour taste in the mouths of many due to his actions off the field. It should also be mentioned that it wasn’t isolated to off-field issues, as he famously took off his jersey, waved sayonara to fans and walked off the field in the middle of a game. So will people look past the character issues and vote to give him honors because of his undeniable talent? Maybe, but there might be an extended wait to get there.
The Athletic’s Steelers insider Mark Kaboly appeared on 93.7 The Fan’s The Joe Starkey Show on Wednesday afternoon and was asked if he thinks Brown is deserving of being named to either the Steelers Hall of Honor or the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I think first of all, yes, he deserves it,” Kaboly said. “I mean, he had that five, six year span like no other. But I mean, I can understand why [they] wouldn’t do it. I think eventually maybe he would get in. It’s not gonna be anytime soon.”
The Steelers Hall of Honor rules state that a player must be retired for at least three seasons. Brown last played in 2021, so he is not eligible to be selected until next year at the earliest. Similarly, he won’t be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame until 2027. Again, on talent and accomplishments alone, he could have been a first-ballot selection for both honors, but that seems unlikely as we sit here now in 2024.
For the Steelers Hall of Honor, there are usually only four or five new members added each season. For the Hall of Fame, there are normally eight or nine. Because of that, there are always players that get stuck in the queue that are more than deserving to get in.
For example, Hines Ward, L.C. Greenwood and James Harrison are still waiting to get into the Hall of Fame. Casey Hampton and Joey Porter Sr. are among those still waiting for their spot in the Hall of Honor. And new players become eligible each passing year.
“It’s just too fresh and too out there for them to bring him back. I mean, you look at James Harrison when he left, he left on a bad taste too, but it didn’t take long for him to get back in the good graces of the organization,” Kaboly said. “I’m not quite sure Antonio Brown’s willing to take that step yet, but number-wise, what he meant to the team, his talent, he deserves the Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor.
“I think we all three will be retired by the time that happens…You got some curmudgeons on the Hall of Fame board that’s not gonna allow that to happen.”
This past February, 93.7 The Fan had Gary Myers, a Hall of Fame voter, on the show and learned of the morality clause. Voters are allowed to consider locker room behavior, but not off-field issues. That being said, the voters are still people with both implicit and explicit biases. If the vote is close between two candidates, they will obviously steer away from a guy like Brown. Because he walked off the field on the Buccaneers, that can and will be used against him in the voting.
Kaboly speculated that it could be a decade or longer until Brown hears his name called, and there is no guarantee that it will happen at all. If and when it does occur, there will definitely be some mixed reactions from fans of the Steelers and people across the NFL landscape.
Speaking of the Steelers Hall of Honor, they announced the 2023 class at the end of July last year, so we should know in the next couple weeks who was selected for 2024. They will honor those individuals in Week 14 against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium.
