Dueling divas hog spotlight
way. He had a well-publicized on- and off-field feud with then Carolina/now Washington defensive back Josh Norman. and he proposed marriage to the Giants kicking net earlier this season.
Brown wears fur coats, drives a Rolls Royce and draws penalties, fines and attention to himself with his touchdown celebrations.
“This is definitely a game where I’m going to be standing up watching this guy,” Beckham said. “I love him like a brother. We trained in the offseason together. His work ethic is unreal. I just want to see him. This is the first time I actually get to watch him live. Just to see him line up, I’m excited about it. Hopefully, he doesn’t have too many celebrations.”
All diva talk side, this game is must-see TV for fans. Brown and Beckham are putting up numbers that will someday put them in the Pro Football Hall of Fame if they maintain the pace.
Brown is the most accomplished receiver in the NFL this decade with 375 receptions over the past three seasons and 608 for his career. He reached the 600-catch milestone in only 96 games, the fewest number in league history. The Pro Football Hall of Fame asked for and received his gloves from the Cleveland Browns game, and they are on display at the museum.
Beckham, in his third NFL season, quickly has established himself as one of the NFL’s top receivers. He’s on pace for another 90-catch, 1,300-yard year, which would be his third in as many seasons. He is the owner of one of the NFL’s most famous catches, a onehanded grab in a game against Dallas last season that has a permanent place on the NFL Films highlight reel.
“He’s one of the big-time guys in the NFL,” Brown said. “He’s an exciting player. I’ll definitely be out of my seat seeing what he does.”
There are similarities in their stats and stature. Brown is 5 feet 10 and 181 pounds. Beckham is 5-11, 198.
It wasn’t long ago that big receivers such as Calvin Johnson and A.J. Green were the NFL prototype general managers sought in the draft. Now Brown and Beckham are the prototypes.
“I watch a lot of film on him and probably stole a lot of stuff from him to make it my own,” Beckham said.
Beckham and Brown became close when they met during the offseason a few years back. Brown was in Los Angeles a lot because he was doing Dancing with the Stars and Beckham sought him out for advice.
The relationship hasn’t changed much, even though Beckham now challenges Brown for the title of NFL’s best receiver.
“He kind of just showed me the ropes,” Beckham said. “He was showing me pretty much everything of what he does. You take that and you put it into your own agenda and schedule. You kind of just go with it from there. There’s definitely some type of competition, but it’s all love and friendly competition.”
There was a time earlier this season when it looked like Beckham might overtake Brown, who was held to 39 receiving yards against the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins. He has dealt with doubleand triple-teams in many games due to the lack of quality depth in the Steelers receiving corps.
But thanks to a torrid three-week stretch he’ll enter Sunday first in the NFL in receptions (82), tied for first in touchdown receptions (10) and third in yards (998). He won’t come close to the 1,834 yards he accumulated last season, but he already has as many touchdowns this season as he did last season.
Beckham has 65 catches for 915 yards and eight touchdowns, and, like Brown, provides great theater for NFL fans.
As Owens, one of the original divas, once said:“Get your popcorn ready.”