Antonio Brown was arguably the best wide receiver of his generation. A sixth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010, he dominated in a way few other receivers have. Unfortunately, the Steelers parted ways with Brown after the 2018 season, trading him to the then-Oakland Raiders. They only received a third- and a fifth-round pick in that year’s draft in exchange for Brown. While that seemed like a bad deal at the time, former Steelers executive Samir Suleiman recently reflected on the deal when talking about notable players he has been around who were traded.
“The most obvious one was in Pittsburgh with Antonio Brown, which really broke my heart because I respected the heck out of him,” Suleiman said on the Between the Tackles podcast. “He was the hardest-working player I’ve ever been around.
“But he made it clear to us that he did not want to be a Steeler again. We made a decision to move on from him, and looking back now, we made the right decision.”
Brown recorded over 100 receptions and at least 1,200 yards every season from 2013-2018. He posted his career-high in touchdowns with 15 in his final year in Pittsburgh. While Brown was on the wrong side of 30, he didn’t look like he was slowing down at all.
However, after his messy exit from Pittsburgh his career started to go off the rails with the Raiders. Brown’s time there was marked by bizarre controversies. That included missing practices because of a foot injury caused by a cryotherapy mishap, considering retirement because the NFL discontinued the helmet he had been wearing, and getting into heated arguments with Raiders general manager Mike Mayock.
That was all before the season started, too, and it culminated in Brown demanding that the Raiders release him. The team gave into his request, so Brown’s time with the Raiders ended before he ever played in a game for them.
He wasn’t a free agent for long, though. Brown signed with the New England Patriots soon after the Raiders released him. However, he only appeared in one game with them, with the Patriots cutting Brown after some serious allegations were made against him.
After a cycle of hinting at retirement and then changing his mind, Brown was suspended for the first eight games of the 2020 season due to a violation of the league’s personal-conduct policy. Still, once he was available, Brown landed with a team again.
He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the middle of the 2020 season. There, Brown finally started to look a little like his old self, at least on the field. He helped the Bucs win a Super Bowl, even catching a touchdown pass in the championship game.
While Brown returned to the Bucs in 2021, he spiraled out of control again, stripping his uniform off as he ran out of the stadium during the team’s Week 17 game.
That was the last of Brown in the NFL. He officially retired soon after that, but the issues didn’t stop there. Brown has been involved in multiple controversies since then. Meanwhile, the Steelers used the draft picks from that deal to select Diontae Johnson and Zach Gentry. While neither player was as good as Brown, they were both solid contributors. That’s more than what Brown was for the Raiders.
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