Antonio Brown has been criticized seemingly nonstop since his infamous decision to broadcast live from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room during the playoffs, and his teammates and coaches aren’t exactly making an effort to defend him.
During his weekly show on 93.7 The Fan Tuesday, Ben Roethlisberger was asked about a report from NFL Media’s Aditi Kinkhabwala that claimed Brown was “pouting” after DeAngelo Williams scored a touchdown against the New England Patriots. Rather than denying it, Roethlisberger called Brown out for some of his selfish antics.
“He’s one of the best in the business, and the plays that he makes and has made over his career are so special,” Roethlisberger said, as transcribed by Chris Adamski of TribLive.com. “I think sometimes that overshadows the extra stuff: the hands up, the arms up, the frustrations, the pouting, the things like that.”
The video of Williams’ touchdown (see it here) actually showed that Brown raised his arms in the air after the score. Kinkhabwala’s report also described Brown as “wide open in the back of the end zone” on the play, which doesn’t make sense considering it was a running play and he was blocking.
But, again, Roethlisberger did not go out of his way to defend Brown. In fact, he gave a very telling chuckle when asked if he approached Brown about sulking during the AFC Championship Game loss.
“Ah, I don’t remember,” Big Ben said. “Maybe I got hit or something, I don’t know.”
In his season-ending press conference, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he did not see Brown pouting but spoke about the “responsibilities” Brown has and said he will ask the star receiver to “continue to grow.”
With all that has been said about Brown in recent weeks, you have to wonder if there is truth to this report.
