Antonio Brown is turning to Twitter to express his thoughts and shake the NFL community up again. Brown, who has recently devoted his time to pursuing a rap/social media influencer career under the guidance of Kanye West (who also hired the former NFL star to run his Donda Sports division) tweeted on Monday that he “Just wanna Retire A Steeler.”
Just wanna Retire A Steeler
— AB (@AB84) May 16, 2022
Strange that AB would talk about his football dreams now.
We thought “Business Is Boomin’?
Just a few months after he bolted off the field in the middle of an NFL game against the Jets, disrobed and blew goodbye kisses to the fans in attendance and millions watching at home and on various devices, Brown compiled a star-studded lineup of musical features to boost his musical debut.
The “Pit Not The Palace” Rapper revealed his tracklist for “Paradigm” through an Instagram post on his page, which included a handful of A-List rappers and musicians such as Fivio Foreign, Young Thug, Keyshia Cole, French Montana, Gunna, DaBaby and more.
Not sure what kind of numbers his album is producing but his reception at various shows has been lukewarm to say the least. With his music career treading water, it seems Brown has his sights set on an NFL return of some sort. Of course. a reconciliation with his old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, would have to occur for him to retire there.
Despite the thousands of retweets and likes, it felt like another attention grab by a guy who fears he’s falling out of the public eye. He’s also finding out that sustained celebrity, at least in his case, will come on the football field and not hanging out with 40- and 50-year-olds in the clubs of college-age socialites and strip joints.
You think AB is hurting for the field now; just wait until his music career reveals itself to be a bad move and the NFL preseason gets in full swing. His tweets per minute will surely increase and he’s going to be throwing out feelers all over the place and trying to atone for his past transgressions. The way the wide receiver market blew up this past offseason AB probably knows he missed out on setting himself up for another huge payday.
A 16-game NFL season has to beat the hustle and bustle of touring, performing in smoky dungeons and dealing with music fans who are much more finicky than football fans.
Believe it or not, AB still has a lot of support from fans and players in the NFL. There’s something weirdly admirable about a guy who’s willing to strike back against the establishment and be deemed a genius talent, yet totally uncontrollable, by ownership.
He’s calling his own shots to an extent, and anyone confined by the restrictions of their own reality probably envies AB in some way. What they don’t envy is his contradictory statements, erratic attacks, damaged personal relationships and inconsistency.
He can’t be considered anything but a code red risk when it comes to a team investing any real money in him. He’s proved to be unreliable when it pertains to him having to sacrifice too much personal glory for the benefit of the team. And there’s nothing wrong with that because it’s his choice. In the NFL, however, no player can have it all his way while working within the structure of an organization that affects hundreds of people.
That’s what his renegade music career is for.
Of course, some fans took AB’s tweet to heart and offered some advice to the Super Bowl champion, which prompted another tweet by the former Tampa Bay Bucs receiver to make it clear that he’s not asking to play for the Steelers again. Just retire there to solidify his NFL legacy.
Not Play Jus Retire so we Clear
— AB (@AB84) May 16, 2022
That’s the delusional AB coming out again. The way he departed from Pittsburgh; back to the door licking shots at everyone from ownership to head coach Mike Tomlin to players he mentored like Juju Smith-Schuster, makes him persona non grata with that organization right now.
Tomlin showed you what kind of culture he’s trying to build with the Kenny Pickett selection. The quarterback will continue to be promoted as the new, biggest star in Pittsburgh. Even if AB doesn’t want to play for the Steelers, the organization probably isn’t ready to address any old wounds. Or retire his number. AB seems to have a shorter memory than most.
You can’t blame him for trying to get his legacy in order. He’s got quite an uphill battle and that undeniable first-ballot Hall of Fame induction isn’t a lock anymore as a portion of voters will surely see him as someone who violated the spirit of the game and competition.
So, AB can continue to play tweet game, but now isn’t the time to be expecting the same NFL that Brown once said had no love for him to embrace him after he quit on it just a few months ago.
Stay tuned. The AB saga continues.
