Zay Flowers
Getty
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers.
If former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown is in the news, at this point, you know it can’t be for anything good.
Brown went off on a social media livestream on Tuesday after 1 of his viewers dared to bring up Baltimore Ravens 2-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers.
“If you say Zay Flowers with my name, you’re a loser!” Brown yells. “Zay Flowers fumbles too much! He can’t hold water! He sucks! Miss me with that coward … he’s not me. I’m being honest. Don’t trigger me, I really have an aggressive … problem. That boy the reason Lamar Jackson can’t win! Zay Flowers is the reason Lamar Jackson can’t win! Ask any one of my quarterbacks, I’m the reason they win!”
Brown spent a decade as an elite NFL wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, earning NFL All-Pro honors 5 times, being named a 7-Time Pro Bowler, winning a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers following the 2020 season, and ultimately being named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team. He also led the NFL in receiving yards twice, receptions twice, and receiving touchdowns once.
He’s also the same person who ended his NFL career in 2021 by walking off the field, mid-game, against the New York Jets, in 1 of the more bizarre exits in league history — and has seen his post-football life dogged by 1 personal scandal after another.
Brown is also right about 1 thing — through their 1st 3 seasons, there should be very little debate as to who was the better receiver between Flowers and Brown.
Flowers Doubled Brown’s Stats in 1st 3 Seasons
Brown was a 6th-round pick (No. 195 overall) by the Steelers in the 2010 NFL draft out of Central Michigan. Flowers was a 1st round pick (No. 22 overall) by the Ravens out of Boston College in the 2023 NFL draft.
Through Brown’s 1st 3 seasons, from 2010 to 2012, he had 91 receptions for 2,062 yards and 7 touchdowns with just a single 1,000-yard receiving season in 2011.
Through Flowers’ 1st 3 seasons, from 2023 to 2025, he has 237 receptions for 3,128 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also has consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2024 and 2025.
So Brown is right when he says people shouldn’t mention their names together at this point, because Brown can’t hold a candle to the numbers Flowers has put up to the same point in both of their careers.
Brown Tried to Explain Bizarre NFL Exit on Podcast
On an episode of The Pivot podcast in 2024 with former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder, Brown tried to explain what happened the day his NFL career ended.
After Brown initially said what happened was “out of his control,” Clark, who played with Brown on the Pittsburgh Steelers, challenged him to give more of an answer.
Brown, who had an estimated $80.7 million in career earnings, filed for bankruptcy in May 2024, listing $3 million in debts and just $50,000 in assets.
“I did what was best for me,” Brown said about walking off the field in his last game. “That’s what my therapist tells me — if I have a trauma or trigger, I’m going to walk away. I didn’t do nothing wrong, I took off my equipment, and took off my shirt, and waived to the people that love me, and walked away. That’s what my therapist advised me to do.”
Brown, who played 12 seasons in the NFL, is still in the Top 30 in NFL history for career receiving yards (12,291), receiving touchdowns (83), and receptions (928).