AB apologizes to Steelers for being a distraction
Antonio Brown issued a public apology to the
Pittsburgh Steelers, telling 93.7 The Fan on Thursday that he is sorry for being a distraction.
"I apologize to those guys for the distractions, the unwanted attention that I probably caused those guys," Brown
told the radio station when asked if he had anything to say to quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger, coach Mike Tomlin and team owner Art Rooney II. "To the organization. Obviously you want to clear out any baggage or any disrespect or unintended attention that was brought on to the organization.
"These guys gave me an opportunity when I was 21 years old. I'm forever grateful to those guys, to have the opportunity to not only play with those guys but to be in so many amazing moments. We've been through so much. I'm forever grateful and indebted to this organization."
Brown's comments continue a series of apologies the wide receiver has made over the past week. On Friday, Brown apologized to the NFL as a whole in
an interview with ESPN's Josina Anderson. He also apologized that day to the Hollywood (Florida) Police Department, which arrested him last month on charges of felony burglary with battery, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and criminal mischief stemming from a Jan. 21 incident with a moving truck driver at his residence.
The former Steelers wide receiver did not specify what he was apologizing for in his radio interview. He addressed the issues that led to him missing Week 17 of the 2018 season, when the Steelers were still in playoff contention.
Brown did not acknowledge a series of tweets sent in September after he was released by the
New England Patriots following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. In one of those tweets, he referenced Roethlisberger's four-game suspension in 2010 for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy based on a sexual assault accusation, saying it's a "crazy world."
In his radio interview, Brown said he and Roethlisberger regularly had spoken while they were both with the Steelers, including before that acrimonious final game in 2018.
"A lot of people are really nervous to tell him what he really is, based on the position he's in," Brown said. "We had a real heart-to-heart hash-it-out, but I just think too much stuff built up that it was too late."
Brown told the radio station that he felt respected in Pittsburgh but that there was too much focus on individual goals over winning.
"At the time, what was important for me -- winning a Super Bowl ... I just think we had a lot of things that was important to individuals, but it wasn't really important to do the big thing, which was win the Super Bowl. ... Guys on the team wasn't really willing to push to go get what was important."
He singled out former teammate
JuJu Smith-Schuster, saying the younger wide receiver showed him disrespect on social media after Brown was traded to the
Oakland Raiders. They have traded barbs over the past year, but Smith-Schuster expressed "concern" for Brown last week in a radio interview from the Super Bowl with Pro Football Talk.
Brown, who has been a free agent since the Patriots released him, is being investigated by the NFL under its personal conduct policy following a lawsuit filed by his former trainer, Britney Taylor, that alleges she was sexually assaulted by Brown on multiple occasions. Brown also was accused of sexual misconduct at his home by an artist who was working there in 2017.
Regarding his NFL future, Brown said he doesn't know what will come.
"I don't know what I'm going to do right now," he told 93.7 The Fan. "I'm just taking it one day at a time."
profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
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