Even though wide receiver Antonio Brown was granted his wish and was traded away from the Pittsburgh Steelers (and to the Oakland Raiders), it appears his feud with former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will go on.
Roethlisberger gave an interview to a local Pittsburgh news outlet on Monday. The quarterback took some responsibility for how things played out with the Steelers last season and specifically apologized to his former receiver:
Ben Roethlisberger’s first comments to @KDPomp and @KDKA on Antonio Brown: “I took some heat and deservedly so for some of the comments on that show and especially towards him. I genuinely feel bad about that and I’m sorry. Did I got to far after that Denver game? Probably…”
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) May 20, 2019
Apparently, Brown did not exactly accept the apology. Shortly after, the 30-year-old receiver tweeted the following:
Two face
— AB (@AB84) May 20, 2019
The beef goes back to last season (if not further back). It culminated in Brown missing the Steelers’ last game of 2018 (a game in which they went into with a chance at making the postseason). At the time, it was unclear whether it was an injury or a pseudo-team suspension. As it turns out it was mostly the latter, although Brown may have been injured as well.
In March, Pittsburgh traded Brown to the Raiders for a two draft picks, third- and fifth-rounders.
Brown had 837 catches over nine seasons for the Steelers for 11,207 yards and 74 touchdowns. His production over the past six years has gone nearly unmatched amongst wide receivers around the league. But ultimately, the Steelers concluded that the situation was untenable and Brown had to go away. Even though they moved him via trade, it doesn’t look like the organization will be removed from Brown’s bead anytime soon.
