With the Pittsburgh Steelers tied for first in the AFC North and fighting for a playoff spot, it may be time for Antonio Brown to accept that the NFL is not going to allow him to celebrate touchdowns without paying the price.
In his weekly radio spot on 93.7 The Fan Tuesday, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger acknowledged that the team has spoken to Brown, who was once again flagged for excessive celebration in last week’s win over the Indianapolis Colts.
“He knows, we all know, Coach (Mike) Tomlin brought it up yesterday, that is a huge penalty that we can’t do,” Roethlisberger said. “We put our kick coverage team in a bad situation and we can’t have it, and AB knows that.”
Brown and his teammates were flagged for a choreographed celebration against Indy, and it was the third time the star receiver has been involved with such a penalty this season. While Tomlin has made it clear he wants his players to stop taking chances in that department, Roethlisberger believes Brown is more likely to be flagged in certain games.
“I know for a fact that he’s scored touchdowns in one o’clock games that aren’t the big prime time games and they haven’t flagged him,” Big Ben said.
Whatever the case, 15 yards can make a big difference depending on the situation. Tomlin tried to seek clarity from the league earlier this year after Brown was penalized for what were deemed sexually suggestive celebrations, so he has since cut back on that. At this point, Tomlin would probably prefer that Brown just hand the ball to the official after scoring, as boring as that may be.
