Another offseason in Pittsburgh, and nothing has changed- drama, and plenty of it. Last season it was, “will Le’Veon Bell come back?” The season before that it was, “is Big Ben retiring?” Now the drama comes from the one, the only, Antonio Brown. I remember growing up and first starting football, I idolized Jerry Rice. I wanted to play wide receiver so bad because of the example that man set while he played the game of football. Wide Receivers have always had the word “diva” associated with them, some, not all have earned that title. Antonio Brown is a diva, and quite frankly, needs to be shipped out of Pittsburgh immediately.
After dealing with the Bell and Ben saga the past two offseasons, the Steelers now have a ticked off wide receiver who abandoned his teammates at halftime of what winded up being their season finale. He showed up in a Mink coat, laughed a little, then left at halftime. All the while he was added to the injury report, was completely healthy, and was benched by Head Coach Mike Tomlin. It’s about time Tomlin made a statement.
He’s been way too lenient on these Pittsburgh Steelers, and it shows as they are one of the league’s most penalized teams.They’re undisciplined because Tomlin wants to be everyone’s pal. So finally, he said enough is enough, this after Brown reportedly got into a heated exchange with a teammate, threw a football at him, and didn’t report to practice for the entire week. You guys know what happens if you do that at any other job? You’re fired…
But instead of cutting him, the Steelers can play their cards correctly, trade him to a team like the 49ers for a first round draft pick, pick the quarterback who eventually replaces Ben, and have JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and Vance McDonald to build around. Doesn’t that sound intriguing?
The correct thing to do is to shop Brown until somebody takes the bait. He’s a cancerous teammate, never been well-liked, cocky, arrogant, and back to the key word from this report- a DIVA. There was a time where this wouldn’t happen under the Rooney family. Nobody was allowed to go out their and disrespect Chuck Knoll, Bill Cowher, your teammates- that was not tolerated by the Steelers organization. Now, every offseason it seems like just more and more turmoil for the Black and Yellow. In my opinion, Pittsburgh should move on from Tomlin if the team doesn’t make the postseason next year, because he’s paid to make sure they win football games.
Ultimately, this team is the most underachieving team in the NFL. So much talent, bonehead penalties and locker room turmoil turned this into a non-playoff team. Trade Antonio Brown, that eliminates some of your stupidity on the field, cuts down on the tension in the locker room. If Tomlin can’t take these guys to the playoffs next year, you’ve got another problem, and another offseason of change. Maybe that’s what these Steelers need? Clean house, get back to playing like the Steelers we’re all accustomed to watching. First things first, you need to rid yourselves of cancerous teammates and people who feel their above the team- 84 should be the first to go. For more on the AB-84 drama read fellow writer Monte Perez article here.