Let us all say a prayer for Antonio Brown, who has fallen victim to the savage agendas of sports journalists. The Pittsburgh Steelers wideout is nothing but collateral damage in journalism’s ceaseless war on whatever.
Brown, as you might have heard, was benched before his team’s season finale after ditching practices throughout the week and failing to report to team meetings. He reportedly has requested a trade, and the Steelers will consider granting his wish.
The self-imposed chaos prompted NBC Sports writer Peter King to leave Brown off his All-Pro ballot — a predictably petty and hypocritical move from a guy who loves nothing more than inserting himself into stories. Brown, who ultimately did not make his fifth All-Pro team, understandably was irked by King’s decision.
But then Brown went overboard.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans came to his friend’s defense, ripping King for leaving Brown off the ballot. Then Brown replied by blasting sports journalists and saying only God can judge him, or something.
Check this out:
Oh, boohoo! Perhaps Brown can wipe his tears with the bills discharging from his $68 million contract extension.
As we said, King deserves to be criticized for allowing emotions to play a role in what is supposed to be an objective process. But that doesn’t mean everyone in the industry has “no substance or no clue about anything” and just wants to “flex some power or feel empowered by their opinion.” Some (most) sports journalists just want to make a living covering the topics they’re passionate about.
Furthermore, Brown’s financial success and celebrity status (both of which he clearly values) would not be possible without the NFL being as successful as it is.
Why is the league successful? Because fans are obsessed with. Why are fans obsessed with it? Because they know everything about it and get to connect with and worship their favorite players. And why do fans know everything about the NFL? Because sports journalists — be they in print, digital, TV or all three — make it possible.
Are there some bad eggs? Yup — but the majority do things the right way, and play pivotal roles in the success of the biggest sport in America.
Oh, and just one more thing.
If Brown wants the focus to be solely on his on-field performance, perhaps he shouldn’t arrive at training camp in a damn helicopter. Maybe he shouldn’t get tap-happy on social media and inundate fans with vague tweets making it seem like he wants out. Maybe he shouldn’t fight with teammates during practice, go rogue before the biggest game of the season and then storm off at halftime because he got benched.
Call us crazy, but eliminating those things feels like a good way to make people focus on how good you are at catching a prolate spheroid-shaped piece of cowhide.
In the meantime, Brown just sounds like someone who “has no substance or no clue about” about what he’s talking about and just wants to “flex” his misguided opinions.
