'I'm Forever Grateful For Those Guys': Antonio Brown Recalls The Way His Relationship With The Steelers Ended
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Thursday morning, Antonio Brown joined the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show and spoke with Colin Dunlap, Chris Mack, and Jim Colony about a variety of topics including his time with the Steelers, his relationship with Ben Roethlisberger and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and his future as an NFL player.
"I apologize to those guys for the discretions for the unwanted attention that probably caused those guys certain things, the organization, so obviously you want to clear out any baggage or any disrespect, or unintended attention that was brought on to the organization," he said. "These guys gave me an opportunity when I was 21-years-old and I'm forever grateful for those guys."
Despite a messy exit from the Steelers organization, Brown did recall the good times he had wearing the black and gold.
"I'm forever grateful and indebted to the Steelers organization, Mr. Rooney, Mike Tomlin, Kevin Colbert, Ben Roethlisberger, I started my career with those guys, a lot of beautiful moments, a lot of positive things, so it's not all bad," he said.
However, as Steelers fans recall, Brown was benched for the final game of the 2018 season against the Bengals.
This came after reports surfaced that he had skipped practices and had disputes with teammates.
"For me, the last game, I had some adversity, but it was just time to move on," he recalled. "I was just emotionally drained and just frustrated about how everything went down. I think a lot of stuff goes down and people don't know what really happened, people just write about it and make assumptions."
Of course, the subject of his relationship with current Steelers Ben Roethlisberger and JuJu Smith-Schuster was discussed.
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"I never said anything about JuJu," he said. "The problem is when you're Antonio Brown and you become this big guy in this big spot, if someone comes at me negative, I can't even come back at them. JuJu was a young guy that DMed me about how he wanted to work with me and then you get a chance to work with me, you have your best season ever and I'm about to leave, you post a picture of you scoring a touchdown on the team I'm going to saying you ready? That's a form of disrespect."
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Brown claimed that because of who Roethlisberger is and the position he plays that people are sometimes nervous to admit they disagree or have an issue with him.
"Ben is really nonchalant to what people think about him, people really talk behind his back, they won't really share it to him to his face, a lot of people who deal with Ben aren't really dealing with him," Brown said. "A lot of people are really nervous to tell him what it really is based on the position he's in. Do I hate Ben? No. Do I love Ben? Yes. Ben's a great guy, great person, great quarterback, all the disappointment and frustration we had should've been hashed out but when ego and emotion get involved, a lot of stuff goes different ways. Plus, he had JuJu Smith-Schuster. I guess I was better for him."
So will Antonio Brown be back in the NFL? He says he's ready and time will tell.
"Everyone loves a comeback story, I'm in shape, 2020 is going to be a great year," he said.
As for a return to Pittsburgh, well, don't rule it out just yet.
"I miss the 'burgh, man. Hopefully, I can come back and get it going."