Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has been the subject of odd reports about his on-field behavior over the past couple of days.
Brown had a so-so game while the Steelers lost to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game last Sunday. After, a report about Brown getting angry about his stats surfaced.
Holes in the report have started to emerge. Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith pointed out a certain accusation about Brown hadn’t even occurred:
But that simply isn’t what happened. Brown was blocking on the running play when Williams scored the Steelers’ first touchdown. And Brown hadn’t been “wide open” on the pass play prior to that, either: Roethlisberger had first looked to Brown in the end zone before checking down because Brown wasn’t open. In fact, on the replay CBS showed immediately before Williams’ touchdown, commentator Phil Simms specifically pointed out that Brown wasn’t getting open because the Patriots were double-teaming him.
Brown has responded by retweeting a note by Pat McAfee:
NFL Network..owned/operated by the NFL..reported @AntonioBrown was pouting after 1st td..so, lying 2 make superstars look bad is good 4 biz? pic.twitter.com/wU4MxMd3Ng
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 24, 2017
It looks like the report from NFL Network got it wrong. While hard to imagine there was any ill intent here, it is worth noting the Steelers haven’t exactly gone public by refuting this. Maybe they don’t view it as worth the time, but publicly standing in Brown’s corner and calling this error for what it is would send a good message.
Alas, the drama surrounding Brown doesn’t seem close to ending. One has to think the trade rumors carousel is just beginning.
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