Brown, Ben have an understanding
Public criticism won’t divide big two
Antonio Brown has no beef with Ben Roethlisberger after he publicly criticized Brown earlier this week for a poor route that led to a late interception that thwarted a comeback attempt against the Broncos Sunday in Denver. In fact, Brown appears to be taking what Roethlisberger said to heart.
“Ben is my guy, man,” Brown said Friday afternoon after practice. “I love him. There’s a method to his madness. It’s only going to inspire the group, encourage the group to do better. I know the type of guys he is. I know it can be misconstrued and changed in regards to how you guys put it out there. But he means well. He’s here to inspire us all. He’s the only one in this locker room that has a championship under his belt. If you do the little things, it’s only going to encourage us to do something special.”
Roethlisberger is in his 15th NFL season and earned Super Bowl rings in 2005 and 2008. The 2008 team will be celebrated before the game Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers at Heinz Field. Roethlisberger is the only current Steelers player with a Super Bowl ring.
Brown is in his ninth season. He made the Super Bowl as a rookie in 2010, but the Steelers lost to the Packers in Super Bowl XLV. They haven’t been back since and only made it to one AFC championship in the past seven years.
Brown has been a spectacular player in that stretch. He can record his seventh 1,000-yard season if he gets 126 yards Sunday night against the Chargers. He is a four-time, first-team All-Pro. When Brown was asked Friday if he also had earned the right to speak his mind, he said: “I think so, but you know it’s not my job to criticize guys. He’s the general. He’s the captain. I’m not the captain. There’s a method to his madness. It’s only going to help us get better.”
Brown and Roethlisberger have navigated some choppy waters in the past. There was the infamous Gatorade cooler
episode a year ago in Baltimore when Brown threw a sideline tantrum after Roethlisberger failed to find him when he was wide open.
This was the first public criticism this year, but Brown indicated Roethlisberger spoke to Brown before he aired his grievances on his weekly radio show.
“Yeah we talk,” Brown said. “It’s not personal the way you guys make it. You guys make big stories, man. That’s my guy. I love him. I got his back no matter what was said. Everything he said encouraged us to be better. He knows what it takes to win Super Bowls. None of us here have Super Bowl rings. That’s what we’re in the hunt to do. We’re in the hunt to win a Super Bowl. He’s a guy who has two rungs and understands what it takes.
“If he challenges guys and is calling guys out it’s only for the group to be better. It’s not to bring everyone down or pit us against each other. He’s going to elevate us together, bring us together to help us win games.”
Roethlisberger also said on his radio show Tuesday that he wished he threw four consecutive passes to second-year receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in that final goal-line sequence that ended with the interception. Smith-Schuster was targeted on first down before a running play and then the interception on third down.
“That’s his opinion,” Brown said. “Whatever gives us the best chance to win. Me and Ben have 800 catches. I think JuJu deserves four.”
These little spats between the quarterback and the star receiver rarely throw off their on-field chemistry.
Brown’s numbers might be down overall, but he’s still on pace for a 103-catch season and could set a personal record for touchdowns in a single season.
“Check the history,” Brown said. “We have a lot of good history. We’ll continue to make history. We have that relationship where we can challenge each other. We can encourage each other. That’s the relationship you want to have with your quarterback.”
“Ben is my guy, man. I love him. There’s a method to his madness. It’s only going to inspire the group, encourage the group to do better.” — Antonio Brown, responding to Ben Roethlisberger’s public criticism this week