Antonio Brown is passing the buck for his ugly Steelers divorce, throwing more jabs on his way out.
The wide receiver spoke about the situation during an interview with ESPN that aired Saturday and an appearance on LeBron James’ HBO show “The Shop, ” which aired Friday. Brown told ESPN he does not “take any blame” for his relationship with the franchise and its ownership deteriorating.
“Sometimes things are bigger than just my issues, you know?,” Brown said. “If you work for me for nine years, wouldn’t you expect you to know my girlfriend’s name or my dad’s name or my kid or, you know, would you expect me to meet your kid or at least know you on the level of some sort of integrity to know, like, ‘Hey, man, I appreciate what you do.’ ”
He also shed further light on his relationship — or lack thereof — with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Brown, whom the Steelers are now looking to trade, said he and Roethlisberger don’t work out in the offseason together and have only been to each other’s houses one time apiece.
Roethlisberger has been critical of Brown’s route running, particularly after a game-ending interception in a Week 12 loss to the Broncos this season. Brown, in his interview with ESPN, took offense to his quarterback calling him out “all year” and telling him he’s his guy, then not throwing him “the ball the whole first quarter.”
“That’s the type of guy he is,” Brown said on “The Shop.” “He feels like he’s the owner. Bro, you threw this s–t to the D-line. How the f–k am I going to run a better route? You need to give me a better ball!”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin didn’t escape the ire of Brown, who according to ESPN has drawn trade interest from the Raiders, Redskins and Titans. On “The Shop,” he told a story about going to Tomlin prior to the Steelers’ Week 17 game against the Bengals, which they needed to win to have a shot at the playoffs.
“I’m a little banged up. So, I meet with coach Tomlin and I’m telling him like, ‘Hey, man, I’m a little banged up,’ ” Brown said. “So, I’m going to need a little time to get right. So, he’s like, ‘If you’re banged up, man, just, you know, you, you can just go home.’ ”
Being told to go home and the Steelers being able to “control the narrative” despite him “putting my life on the line” for the franchise bothered Brown. He ended up sitting out the game before demanding a trade.
“So I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s where we’re at?’ ” Brown said.
He told ESPN the Steelers, who are asking from a first-round pick for Brown, should want to trade him from a financial perspective.
“Why wouldn’t they not trade me? They gotta pay me $2.5 million on March 17,” Brown said. “If I invoice you March 17, $2.5 million that you gotta pay me, would you pay it or would you get somebody else to pay it?”