Have We Seen the Last of Antonio Brown in Pittsburgh?

My understanding of the situation surrounding #Steelers WR Antonio Brown: As he exited the field in frustration on Wednesday, he yelled, “I’m done!” Then wondered why they don’t trade him. More venting in anger than anything. He has not made any actual trade request, officially.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 1, 2019

Mike Tomlin said “it became difficult to communicate and catch up w/ him” Fri eve and Sat am. Acknowledges Antonio Brown was not at walkthrough. Says AB’s agent Drew Rosenhaus called him Sunday am and said AB was ready to play. Tomlin told Drew: that’s not how decisions are made.

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) January 2, 2019

If we’re reading tea leaves, Antonio Brown is likely gone. Mike Tomlin said “certainly” when asked if there’s a point where talent becomes not worth it. Multiple teammates say they’re done. He’s not looking chastened in his videos & as @MikeGarafolo tells us: there’s no cap issue

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) January 2, 2019

Aske if Antonio Brown quit on the Steelers, Mike Tomlin said “you can call it what you want to call it”

— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) January 2, 2019

🤩 https://t.co/pA9fiuEX0f

— Antonio Brown (@AB84) January 1, 2019

James Harrison will have an “exclusive” interview with @AB84 following Mike Tomlin’s end of the year press conference 👀

(via @jharrison9292) pic.twitter.com/78QMnlSoSt

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) January 2, 2019

If you listen very carefully, you can hear the hearts of Steelers fans across the country begin to shatter into a million pieces.

I’m here for every second of this. It’s not very often that one the best pass-catchers to ever step on the field is basically requesting a trade, but here we are. What exactly is going on in Pittsburgh? Let’s find out.

So if I’m understanding this correctly, AB went AWOL leading up to the Steelers Week 17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Come Sunday, AB said he was ready to play, but Tomlin decided to shut him down for being so difficult to reach. Seems fair from Tomlin’s end. I’d do the same thing.

But what I can’t seem to figure out is why exactly AB is so mad that he’d skip out on walkthrough leading up to such a big game. Is he jealous of JuJu’s success? Does it have something to do with how Le’Veon’s situation was handled? Or does he really just hate Mike Tomlin and Big Ben? All three are viable guesses, but I want to lean more towards the latter.

Apparently Ben and Brown got into a shouting match after last Wednesday’s practice, causing AB to yell out “I’m done! Why don’t you guys just trade me?” This isn’t a formal trade request, but there must be some serious tension in the locker room for AB to go and say something that serious. He’s clearly been bottling those words up for some time now.

Brown is absolutely in the wrong here. The stunt he pulled was selfish. But if you can’t read the writing on the wall, you must be blind or illiterate. Mike Tomlin does not have a hold on his roster at all. Your best WR (ever) won’t even show you the respect you (clearly don’t) deserve and show up to practice before a must-win game? That right there tells me everything I need to know about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Brown might have been in the wrong, but he isn’t the first player to act out negatively towards this team. Le’Veon Bell and James Harrison are some of the latest examples of players doing this.

At this point, it’s starting to look like AB’s days in Pittsburgh are numbered. The Steelers are crumbling, and I just bought front row tickets to watch it all go down. I couldn’t be happier.

-Nick Cherico (@CouchGuyCherico)