Dunlap: AB Was Just Being AB
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PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - That's just AB.
Just who he is, how he acts and what he's all about.
Know what? I learned to live with it a long time ago as someone who consumes the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Antonio Brown doesn't just march to the beat of his own drummer, the guy seemingly constructs a different drummer every day to march to.
I've stopped trying to figure the guy out and resigned myself to this: As long as he keeps his nose clean off the field and keeps producing like one of the best in the NFL on it, he can pretty much do whatever he wants.
Dance, yell, scream, wear Gucci suits that look like the couch in your grandmother's basement -- any and all of it is OK by me.
Yeah, you got it. The superstar treatment. AB gets that; he has earned as much in my estimation because, you know what, it's blatantly evident the guy isn't changing anytime soon. It's also blatantly evident he's one of the most magnificent players in the league.
The latest example of AB being AB came early in the second quarter in what ended up in a 26-9 victory for the Steelers on Sunday at Baltimore.
A play got busted just a little bit, Antonio Brown broke off a crossing route and went deep into what seemed like miles and miles of green grass.
He was wide-the-heck open.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger couldn't see Brown in what was obviously not his first read and, instead, threw an incompletion to back Le'Veon Bell.
Oh yes, then we got that grand-sized dose of AB being AB.
At first, he threw his hands up vehemently in the air, the international wide receiver sign for "what the hell, I was open, get me the ball."
But the shenanigans were far from over.
Next came AB v. Gatorade cooler on the sideline.
Antonio Brown flipped a Gatorade cooler that went bouncing across the ground end-over-end on the Steelers sideline, caught by CBS' camera. It immediately became a talking point.
He then shouted in the direction of a couple of Steelers staff members -- most notably offensive coordinator Todd Haley -- who approached Brown in what looked like an attempt to help him get composed.
They couldn't. At least not initially.
He was mad.
Again, AB being AB.
For his part, Antonio Brown said something after the game about being a kid at Christmas and not getting the toy you wanted from Santa.
Or something like that.
I don't know -- the quote was more AB being AB.
Get this: I don't have one iota of a problem with it. Not one.
For all his warts and ills -- either perceived or real -- Antonio Brown's frustration in that moment, and other times in his career he's done similar things, have been rooted in wanting to achieve perfection.
He wants the ball, he wants to win and he knows -- by and large -- the heaviest dose of AB (especially when he has a step on the defense) generally is a great assistance to the Steelers winning football games.
I would much rather there be a player on my team like Antonio Brown than someone who needs to find that inner motivation to want to be the best every single moment they are out there.
Keep being you, AB. That is all fine as far as I am concerned.
I can live with the mini-tantrums and moments of frenzied sulking as long as you keep performing like one of the best in the NFL.
By this point, no Steelers fan should be surprised by any of it.
AB making incredible plays? That's just AB being AB.
AB complaining here and there? That's also just AB being AB.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
