Steelers star Brown to fight lawsuits
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is planning to fight a pair of lawsuits filed against him stemming from an incident at a Florida apartment complex last spring.
Ophir Sternberg is seeking damages against Brown, claiming that objects thrown by Brown from the 14th floor of an apartment building came close to striking Sternberg’s father and Sternberg’s 22-month-old son in April.
The lawsuit claims Sternberg’s son was “extremely traumatized” by the event.
A second lawsuit filed by the owner of the apartment building is seeking more than $15,000 in damages from Brown.
Brown told police that the incidents occurred after a gun and $80,000 were stolen from the apartment.
Brown said in a statement on Thursday the lawsuits contained “false claims” against him.
“The facts will soon come out that prove my innocence,” Brown said. “My focus will remain on football and I will not let the cases serve as a distraction.”
War of the words: Jalen Ramsey said New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore’s criticism is “lame, corny,” adding “but it’s him, though.”
In a radio interview Wednesday, Gilmore took a shot at the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back by saying “a lot of people can talk, but you’ve got to back it up, which he does. Sometimes.”
Gilmore added: “That’s not my style, but I find a lot of guys that talk are mostly zone guys so they have a lot of energy to do that.”
Ramsey fired back saying, “we know that’s furthest from the truth.”
“I’m going to continue to do what this team asks me to do,” Ramsey said. “Man or zone. Maybe he should try it. I was All-Pro.”
Ramsey usually plays press coverage and regularly follows the opponent’s best receiver all over the field.
Bengals want to keep cool: Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis routinely shows his Bengals players video of egregious conduct from around the league as a way of trying to keep them in line.
Exhibit A would be their game last December against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bengals were penalized 13 times for a club-record 173 yards during another meltdown against Pittsburgh at Paul Brown Stadium.
The Steelers overcame a 17-point deficit with the help of Cincinnati’s damaging penalties, finishing off a 23-20 victory that was their sixth in the row in the series.
Penalties have figured prominently in the streak, including penalties on Vontaze Burfict and Adam “Pacman” Jones that helped Pittsburgh pull out an 18-16 playoff victory in the 2015 season.
“We can’t have any dumb penalties, any outbursts, anything like that,” cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said.
“We’ve got to stay focused. It’s Pittsburgh week. Everybody’s going to be hyped up, ramped up.”