Fooch’s update: PFT and Adam Schefter are both saying Brown formally requested a trade at some point and that remains the case, but he has not been traded or released yet.
The Antonio Brown saga is not getting any clearer, but the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver offered up another slightly cryptic statement. He posted a highlight video to Instagram set to “Do What I Want,” with the status, “SteelerNation thank you for big 9 years!!! Time to move on and forward.....#NewDemands.”
The Steelers get to decide his future, but Brown is making it clear he wants out. At the same time, while we try and figure out what’s going to happen on the field, off the field it just seems to get a little more intense by the day. On Tuesday, WPXI in Pittsburgh reported that Brown was found guilty of reckless driving after not showing up at his speeding trial Tuesday morning.
He’s not the first and won’t be the last person to get busted for reckless driving. Choosing not to show up is not ideal, but I’m sure he’ll have something to say about that. But what caught my eye was this section:
A Ross Township police officer was stationed near the Babcock overpass looking for a possible suspect from a bank robbery at the WesBanco in McCandless Crossing, police said.
It’s a wrong time, wrong place issue for Brown, but it’s somehow fitting that this happened in the midst of something crazier. I think Matt Barrows summed this up best:
At this rate the 49ers will acquire him in exchange for three magic beans ... https://t.co/NbBozAirZA
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) February 12, 2019
There is no doubting Brown’s talent, but I have to think teams that might otherwise be interested in a trade are less likely the more we see incidents show up. Peter King suggested the market for Brown could be so low the Steelers might decide their best option is to keep him, “even if it means they may have to cut him in October if he becomes disruptive again.” King describes him as a gamble whose considerable upside is worth more than selling him for 30 cents on the dollar in a trade.
In light of this latest social media post, I have no idea what any of this means for his future.