Steelers’ Brown sorry for posting coach rant
PITTSBURGH Steelers receiver Antonio Brown has apologised for posting a video of coach Mike Tomlin’s postgame locker room comments on Sunday, harsh-language remarks that stirred an NFL uproar.
After Pittsburgh’s playoff victory at Kansas City set up Sunday’s showdown at New England for a Super Bowl berth (at 6:40am on Monday morning Cambodian time), Brown streamed live on his Facebook account Tomlin firing up his players, including comments that the NFL “spotted those a— [New England] a day and a half” of preparation time.
The Patriots beat Houston on Satur- day afternoon to advance, while the Steelers played on Sunday night, the game delayed due to icy conditions last Sunday in Kansas City.
Late on Tuesday, Brown took to Twitter to apologise.
“I’m sorry for my actions and behavior after Sunday’s game,” Brown posted. “I let my emotions and genuine excitement get the best of me, and I wanted to share that moment with our fans.
“It was wrong of me to do, against team and NFL policy, and I have apologized to Coach Tomlin and my teammates for my actions. I’m sorry to them for letting it become a distraction and something that they’ve had to answer questions about while we’re preparing for a big game on Sunday.”
Tomlin, in his 10th season at the Steelers, called Brown’s decision to film and make public the remarks, “foolish”, “selfish”, and “inconsiderate” and said he would face discipline over the move.
“The language on the video is regrettable, language by me and by others,” Tomlin said. “And it’s regrettable because this thing that is the National Football League, this platform that we have is a precious and awesome thing and not something that we take very lightly.”
By violating league policy with his locker room video, the NFL might also impose a punishment against Brown, who has caught 106 passes this season for 1,284 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Brown grabbed six receptions for 108 yards in Pittsburgh’s 18-16 victory at Kansas City.
The Steelers lost 27-16 to New England in an October regular-season game at Pittsburgh. Brown caught seven passes for a game-high 106 yards against the Patriots.
In Sunday’s other Conference game, the Green Bay Packers travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks (at 3:05am).