Antonio Brown Goes Off on Former Steelers WR
Antonio Brown is once again taking aim at his former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate.
In a recent rant, Brown raised an issue with the Steelers voting fellow wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster as the team's MVP in 2018 despite his costly fumble on the road against the New Orleans Saints in Week 16 that ultimately cost them a playoff berth.
"And [JuJu Smith-Schuster], they didn't wanna make better than me, fumbled their whole season," Brown said. "And they still gave him MVP, because they didn't wanna give me the fifth one in a row. Imagine if the NFL hate on you like that, your own team, what would you do? Your own team betrayed you. What would you do if your own team betrayed you? They tried to make the No. 2 be better than you. … How do you give a guy who fumbled our season the f****** MVP? You know why? Because they're jealous of AB."
Brown's Tumultuous End to Steelers Career
After a messy end to the 2018 campaign, which saw Brown reportedly skip meetings and practices while also leaving the team's regular season finale at halftime, he requested a trade at the beginning of the offseason.
Brown cited some issues in his relationship with Ben Roethlisberger as well, and he was eventually traded to the Oakland Raiders after Pittsburgh's initial agreement with the Buffalo Bills fell through.
Years later, in an interview with DJ Vlad in 2024, Brown shared his respect and appreciation for Roethlisberger and threw some blame at the media for muddying their relationship.
"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," Brown said. "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."
Brown was later cut by the Raiders without ever playing in a game for the team after a multitude of incidents. He subsequently signed with the New England Patriots, but he was released by them following just one game due to allegations of sexual assault.
He landed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and was a part of their Super Bowl LV-winning team that year while playing alongside Tom Brady. Brown suited up for seven contests during the 2021 campaign as well, but he ran off the field in the middle of the team's Week 17 game against the New York Jets and never appeared in a contest again.
Brown is one of the most talented receivers in recent NFL history, but his off-the-field issues are impossible to disregard.
Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI, and find our podcast All Steelers Talk on YouTubeor anywhere you listen!
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/steelers/onsi as Antonio Brown Goes Off on Former Steelers WR.
Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 4:17 AM.