Pittsburgh Steelers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Despite them defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in the last week, 16-13, Mike Tomlin’s boys failed to reach the postseason.
Their big rivals, Baltimore Ravens endured the late push of the Cleveland Browns at their M&T Bank Stadium, and won the AFC North division, clinching the playoff spot after last year’s terrible experience.
For the Steelers fans and the entire organization, this hasn’t been the only blow in the last couple of days. They are worried that after losing Le’Veon Bell, yet another big superstar might leave Heinz Field.
Antonio Brown didn’t play against the Bengals. The reasons for such a thing were various. The official one is that the Steelers wide receiver picked up an injury and that the couldn’t endure a tough matchup like the one against the fierce division rival.
Ryan Clark on #Steelers @AB84 pic.twitter.com/5tHZmCoKe0
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) January 1, 2019
Now, another, unofficial explanation included Brown making incidents during the practice session before the last game. A couple of sources close to the club said that Brown had a verbal conflict with his teammate. One of those sources told that AB had, in fact, a problem with none other than Ben Roethlisberger.
“I’m blessed to play with him,” Big Ben said today, denying any connection with him having a dispute with his favorite target on the field “I consider him one of my closer friends.”
Still, that isn’t what the source said. Allegedly, Brown went berserk after someone asked from him to run a hot read one more time, while the walk-through session still lasted. That suggestion made AB very angry, and he didn’t want to do it, yelling at the teammates, especially Roethlisberger, to whom he told that he feels underappreciated.
The Steelers QB denies any incident at all, as he said earlier today in an interview for a local radio station.
“If there was a blowout, I certainly didn’t see it,”
Roethlisberger himself wants to find out what has happened with Brown, which is why he tried to get in touch with him several times since the last Thursday. That was the last time these two guys had any communication, and according to Big Ben, everything was just fine.
However, since then, AB isn’t responding to his calls or text messages.
“I called and texted and reached out numerous times and tried to find out what going on,” Roethlisberger said, “but I really couldn’t get any answers.”
A two-time Super Bowl champion expressed his hope, for Brown’s return among the Steelers, because he is one of the best players of the franchise and makes Big Ben better on the field
“I hope he’s back here with me because he makes me better,” Roethlisberger said.
Ben Roethlisberger denies practice incident with Antonio Brown + Hunter Henry practicing with the first team + more @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/bPDwG2dytD
— Taylor Bisciotti (@TaylorBisciotti) January 1, 2019
Steelers had a turbulent season, which was ruined in the last few games. A lot of factors were against these guys, but on the other hand, the lost several games which they shouldn’t. The inconsistency in their game, especially in the offensive aspect was enormous.
They couldn’t execute when needed the most, and also, lost several big games which were almost won. Now, that was Roethlisberger’s fault.
Brown had 104 receptions this season, for 1,297 yards and 15 TDs without a single fumble. He is still one of the best, if not the best wide receiver in the league, and his departure from Pittsburgh would no doubt, crush all chances for reaching another Super Bowl in the near future.
Following a loss of Bell, AB’s leaving would irretrievably destroy this generation of Steelers.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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