Steelers Now
There was a time when Antonio Brown wasn’t spending chunks of his time urging TikTok live viewers to tap on their phone screens or send him money disguised as social media animations.
There was a time when Antonio Brown wasn’t the most unpredictable athlete you know — in the news for his latest on-field performance rather than sexual assault allegations, an attempted murder charge or filing for bankruptcy.
There was a time when Antonio Brown — the best receiver in the game — pulled on his Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 84 jersey every Sunday and spun defenders around like tops. And everyone underlines that fateful night in Cincinnati as the turning point in the receiver’s career.
You must’ve seen the hit by now. The Steelers were down 16-15 with 22 seconds to go in a 2015 AFC Wild Card playoff game, with Ben Roethlisberger‘s offense trying to get into field goal position for Chris Boswell. On a first-and-10 from the host Bengals’ 47-yard line, Brown traced a 15-yard dig route and jumped to try to grab a high Roethlisberger pass with Chris Lewis-Harris trailing.
Charging in from in front of Brown, who was just landing, Steelers antagonist Vontaze Burfict dipped his shoulder and crashed into the side of the star wideout’s helmet. Instantaneously, Brown’s entire body went limp — his arms flailing — before crumpling to the turf.
“He deserved a Grammy Award for that,” Bengals cornerback Pacman Jones said afterward of Brown’s collapse. (Someone let him know the Grammys are music awards.)
The illegal collision helped put the Steelers in field goal position, and Boswell nailed a 35-yarder with 14 ticks remaining to send Pittsburgh to the divisional round. Over the next week, though, I’d hoped that somehow Brown would miraculously shake the concussion and play against the Denver Broncos.
Martavis Bryant had an outstanding game — nine receptions, 154 yards — at Mile High, but the Steelers managed only two field goals in the second half in a 23-16 loss to the eventual Super Bowl 50 champions. Brown was obviously what was missing, having posted a then-NFL single-season record 136 catches that season, surpassing the high-water mark he set the previous campaign.
If he suits up that day, Pittsburgh might have one more Lombardi Trophy in its collection.
Numbers almost can’t do Brown’s Steelers tenure justice. Let’s begin with the basics.
A sixth-round draft choice in 2010, Brown posted an 1,100-yard effort in 2011 before getting out from under Mike Wallace’s shadow two years later. From 2013-18, Brown put up more receptions (686) and receiving yards (9,145) than any receiver over a six-season span in NFL lore. The Atlanta Falcons’ Julio Jones surpassed the yardage benchmark during the 2019 campaign.
When Brown arrived for his brief Oakland layover in 2019, he was the only player in NFL history to notch at least 100 grabs and 1,200 receiving yards in six straight go-rounds. By the time he infamously stripped his shoulder pads,...
