For nine years Pittsburgh Steelers fans (such as myself) cheered his name as he ran the ball into the endzone after making an extraordinary catch. Today, the majority of Steeler fans among other NFL viewers are calling for the early retirement of Antonio Brown.  

Antonio Travaris Brown Sr., born in Miami Florida in 1988, took a step into playing football professionally in 2010 when he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers after graduating from Central Michigan University.   

During the first nine years of the 33-year-old’s career, the talented Brown gave Steeler fans what we wanted: an exciting, drama-free football game once a week during football season. Brown, who wore the number 84 during his time with Steelers, scored a total of 74 touchdowns in the span of nine years. 

This is what we saw on the field, but off the field was an entirely different story. According to sources at ESPN, Brown was reportedly showing up late to practices and meetings, which was sometimes tolerable due to the success that he brought the team, according to one former Steeler player. 

“[Tomlin] essentially told the group, we’ll tolerate it now because of what he brings on the field, but the minute production stops, you don’t overlook it,” the former Steeler player anonymously told ESPN. 

Pittsburgh Steeler head coach Mike Tomlin was put in a very difficult position at the time: one of his best players was not committing the way that he should have. 

However, I do not believe that his lateness should have been tolerated. Brown was carelessly showing up late to important events, which showed that his priorities were somewhere else and not with his team that was paying him generously to show up. 

Days before the Steelers faced the Cincinnati Bengals, one of their final regular season games of the 2018-2019 season, Tomlin was fed up with Brown’s ego. Brown was absent from the practice prior to the Week 17 game. 

Tomlin finally benched Brown, leaving number 84 angry and bitter with the man that he called coach for almost a decade.  

Brown’s trouble was developing not just within the franchise but with our city itself. In November of 2018, Brown was stopped and cited with a $200 speeding ticket by a Ross Township police officer for driving over 100 mph on McKnight Road inbound near the intersection with Nelson Run Road. 

Let’s also not forget about the time Brown was sued by a Pittsburgh doctor for reportedly “farting in his face” during a consultation that he showed up three hours late for. Laughing and making fun of the doctor’s body fat, Brown was sued for $11,500 and had to pay up for his childish acts. 

Not only were his teammates angry with him for causing drama in the franchise, we, the citizens of Pittsburgh, were angry due to his disruption of public peace. I, like many others, said “bye bye” when he requested a trade from the Steelers in January of 2019. 

Brown ultimately got his wish, moving to the then Oakland Raiders. He planned to play but never did. The Raiders released Brown after an altercation between Brown and general manager, Mike Mayock.

It would be comedic if it weren’t so tragic. After all the success he brought one franchise for almost decade, Brown was unable to receive any playing time. Some other teams, however, thought they could do better, which is why I was astonished to hear that he signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots just hours after his release from Oakland. 

Brown played alongside former New England Patriot quarterback, Tom Brady. His first game with Patriots was a success, as the team took a shut-out victory over the Miami Dolphins with final score 43-0. According to the NFL, Brown made four catches on eight targets for 56 yards and scored a touchdown. 

It looked like Antonio Brown was starting to get his football career back on track.  But it proved to be short-lived and his first game with the Patriots was his last. The then-five-time Super Bowl champion franchise released Antonio Brown amid reports of sexual assault. The NFL investigated these allegations but no criminal charges came from the reports.

Despite a list of sexual misconduct allegations, verbal altercations between different head coaches and teammates, and additional legal trouble from other cities, Brown was signed once again by another NFL team in 2020. 

This time, it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who ironically had just signed Tom Brady as their new quarterback. Shockingly enough, Brown lasted an entire year with the Buccaneers until he made an exit that no other football player has been so immature to make.

After refusing to participate in the game being played against the New York Jets, Brown ripped off his pads and jersey, launched some of his padding into the stands, and ran off the field, shirtless. 

According to CBS Sports, Buccaneers head coach, Bruce Arians, repeatedly instructed Brown to get on the field and play, but he refused. Arians was forced to bench the wide-receiver, evidently something Brown struggles to cope with. 

Brown had an opposing but mismatching story. He claimed that he couldn’t play due to a recent ankle injury. If he couldn’t play due to an ankle injury, why was he in uniform on the field? Why was he also able to run off the field the way he did?  

“He is no longer a Buc,” Arias said during the press conference following the game. 

I commend Bruce Arias for making this statement publicly. He knows the values a player should have when playing for a franchise that is paying big money for them to be there. He showed that he was not afraid to eliminate Brown because of his egotistical disruption to his team. Yes, racking up points is important in any sporting event, but ethics and respect for the team and game are just as important. 

After every stunt he has pulled, Antonio Brown has shown that he is more focused on his ego than on being a respectable player of the NFL. He uses his athletic talent for the wrong reasons.

Some believe that he could be suffering from a mental health disorder. When asked about this during a recent CBS Interview, Brown responded “I just got a high IQ.” 

Recently, rumors that he is attempting to join the Baltimore Ravens are spreading. Should this rumor become reality, I predict his time with his fourth team in three years will not last longer than a full season. 

Brown is at an age where he can still perform athletically the same way he did during his time with the Steelers. He most likely knows this and has no desire to give up his football career now.  But we’ve all seen this movie before.

It is time for the headline-making wide-receiver to follow in Tom Brady’s and Ben Roethlisberger’s footsteps as they conclude their time in the NFL. A player needs to represent the common phrase “there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team,’” a phrase Antonio Brown’s selfish ethics have been putting to shame for too long now.