Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown offered some interesting new comments on his relationship with Ben Roethlisberger.
Brown and Roethlisberger were teammates in Pittsburgh for nine years from 2010 to 2018. The duo led Pittsburgh to a Super Bowl 45 appearance, six playoff appearances and four AFC North division crowns. In that period, Brown was a four-time First-team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler who twice led the league in receptions and receiving.
But the prolific QB-WR duo broke up late in the 2018 season, when Brown walked out of a Steelers practice following an argument with Roethlisberger. Brown no-showed the Steelers’ Week 17, 2018 game and was traded to the Oakland Raiders in the ensuing offseason.
Brown called out Roethlisberger and several other teammates following his departure from Pittsburgh. But Brown took a different tone this time around during an interview on Vlad TV (h/t Noah Strackbein of Sports Illustrated).
In the interview, Brown expressed remorse over the relationship fracturing. He even accused the media of causing some of the rift between the duo:
“I love Ben, I was probably so hurt at that time I just blocked his number. I made a life, changed my life as a player, coming into my own with Ben. First time I ever hit the starting lineup Big Ben told Bruce Arians ‘Yo I need AB at the X’, so I don’t think I ever had a problem with Ben, man.
Me and Ben made some of the greatest football history moments of my life, you know, my kids grew up seeing it. It sparked some of the greatness in my life. I feel like the media tried to create a war between us, but man I feel like me and Ben’s IQ is so much the same, sometimes I ran and created routes and he’d throw me the ball. We had that relationship, the media makes it what it is, but I got nothing but love and joy for Ben.”
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The split between Brown, Roethlisberger and star running back Le’Veon Bell is one of the great “what ifs” in recent NFL memory. Bell infamously sat out the entire 2018 season because of a contract dispute and was never the same again.
Brown himself only played 16 total NFL games following his trade from Pittsburgh. Roethlisberger never won another playoff game following the departures of Brown and Bell.
