Has Antonio Brown Become The Most Hated Player In The NFL?
Photo Credit: Bleacher Report
Congratulations to Antonio Brown who has skyrocketed over the past few months to the top of the list of most hated NFL players. Going into last season I don’t feel like too many people disliked Antonio Brown. Other than maybe some of his AFC North rivals, Antonio Brown was just one of the best wide receivers in the league, nothing more. Granted he did have a few incidents in his past like the time he dropped kicked the punter and also the time he threw furniture out of his 14 story window nearly striking a toddler below. Brown also has 5 kids with 3 different women. So while Brown wasn’t exactly the best role model he still wasn’t nearly as polarizing and as public as he’s been with his issues over the past few months.
It obviously all started in week 17 of this NFL season when Antonio Brown failed to show up for practice and team meetings leading up to the Steelers must win final game of the season. Then he followed that up with just not showing up to the game altogether. Maybe the most despicable thing that you can do as a professional athlete is to quit on your team. And not only did Antonio Brown quit on his team but they still had a shot at making the playoffs but first needed to make sure they won that week 17 game. A no show from Brown confirmed that all he cares about is himself. Him getting paid money is more important to him than winning, superbowls or the team. While the Steelers front office tried to act like they still had no interest in trading their star receiver once the season was over, this was clearly a bluff to try and drive up the bidders. You can’t simply continue about your merry way next season as if nothing happened. I mean he demanded a trade and wished the Steelers goodbye even though he was still on the team and under contract. Bizarre move from a guy who wasn’t a free agent.
This led to Antonio Brown getting dealt to the Oakland Raiders, of all teams. For a measly 3rd and 5th round pick, the Raiders were able to snag one of the top wide receivers in the league. The going rate for other top 5 receivers in the league was a 1st and 3rd rd pick along with a couple of players, which was the haul the NY Giants got for Odell Beckham. While Beckham may be a bit of a headcase in his own right and known to party on a boat from time to time, he’s not nearly on the same level as Antonio Brown. You’d think that Brown would realize what a moron he’s truly become when he saw the package that it took to get him vs the package for Odell. He may be a top 5 receiver in the league but he’s the biggest locker room cancer in the league and any smart GM wouldn’t have gotten near Brown. But the Raiders are the Raiders so I’m not sure anybody is too surprised. With his holdout and trade over you’d think it would be time to move on, but here’s where Brown moved to the next level of petty.
So the entire time this whole debacle has been going on, Brown has been on social media quite a bit. On Sunday Antonio Brown tweeted “Keep your emotions off the internet”, who knows who or what he was talking about. This tweet was obviously met with a lot of hate from Steelers fans and one response in particular said “And your furniture in your apartment”, referencing Brown throwing furniture from his 14 story apartment. Brown then responds to Pittsburgh fans telling them that his time in Pittsburgh is over and for them to move on and buy his Raiders jersey. This was met with the ultimate response of a picture of Juju Smith-Schuster with the caption of 2018 team MVP. Again, another reference to Brown’s demise in Pittsburgh. After all, it was the team voting Juju MVP which is rumored to have been one of the leading reasons for him sitting out week 17. You can tell that this got even further under Brown’s skin as he would follow it up with the most unnecessary, jackass tweet of all time from an NFL player.
Sure let’s just go ahead and call out your former teammate, who’s never said anything negative about Brown publicly throughout his whole situation and blame him for costing the Steelers a playoff chance this season. Obviously the fumble by Schuster in the last minute of the New Orleans game was a very costly play but all he did after the game was apologize and take the blame for the loss. Kind of crazy to pin the Steelers missing the playoffs on Schuster when you had 15 other games to play, a running back who decided to sit out the whole season and a star wide receiver who decided to sit out a must win week 17 game because he didn’t win team mvp. But sure, it’s all Juju’s fault. Has Antonio Brown been drug tested lately because what in the hell is he doing? Juju would respond with a few tweets of his own.
In the end, it’s borderline remarkable how Antonio Brown has managed to make himself so disliked. Are we sure this isn’t the WWE because he’s being the ultimate heel right now. Only it’s not the WWE and Antonio Brown is throwing his former, 22 year old teammate under the bus for a play that I’m sure haunts him still. But in reality it’s not the play itself that led to Brown being in the position he’s in. It’s the fact that Juju came into Pittsburgh and was taking his spot. Just like the previous 5-6 star receivers that have been in Pittsburgh because it’s just a revolving door of talent in that team over the past 10-15 years. Brown’s time was up and Juju was taking his spot, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a player handle a situation worse.
Juju is the captain now
Photo Credit: USA Today