What Many Believe Ruined Antonio Brown’s NFL Career
It has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for Antonio Brown over the last 12 months that has seen push his way out of the NFL. His sporadic behavior, along with questionable decision-making off the field, have put him out of a job. It has gone done a troubling path that has placed his NFL future up in the air. With that in mind, there is one moment that many believe was the tipping point to his career going downhill.
Antonio Brown’s spiraling NFL career
The former Pro Bowl wide receiver went from being regarded as arguably the best player at his position in the game to being completely out of the NFL.
Brown’s erratic behavior, paired with his bad choices away from the field, has put his career in the league in peril. He is currently facing a pair of sexual misconduct charges that have cost him any opportunity to play for the New England Patriots while putting him in line for some significant punishment by the NFL.
That came just after he had worked his way out of the Oakland Raiders, who had acquired him from the Pittsburgh Steelers. On top of that, they had given him a lucrative contract extension to be a long-term piece in the puzzle. Brown’s NFL career is now out of his hands as the only thing he can do at this point is to wait for the legal issues to sort themselves out.
The entire situation around Brown is believed by many to have come tumbling down after one move the Steelers made involving him a couple of years ago.
Antonio Brown’s tipping point
During his tenure with the Steelers, Brown quickly rose to the top as one of the best receivers. He has become a crucial part of their explosive offense that was among the top in the NFL.
Brown’s elite production had put the opportunity in front of him to earn lucrative four-year, $18 million contract extension with Pittsburgh. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, that is deemed by many as the turning point for the Central Michigan product’s downfall.
But many point specifically to his massive contract extension in February 2017 — four years, $68 million — as a turning point. That’s when, some friends and ex-teammates say, the superstar behavior became more frequent, the distractions unavoidable, the ability to hold time commitments more flimsy.
The Steelers had catered to Brown within the organization by applying his own set of rules for him to follow. At the same time, his erratic behavior was reportedly an ongoing internal situation. The decision to play him as the then-highest paid player at his position set things to the next level.
It further unbalanced things for Brown with his behavior and decision-making off the field. That all came to a boiling point late in the regular season last year, which finally pushed the Steelers to move on from him. It has become a downhill battle that Brown hasn’t been able to recuperate from yet.
Will Antonio Brown get another shot in the NFL?
Regardless of how things have unfolded, Brown now sits with no control over his fate in the league.
His past decision-making has put any chance of continuing his illustrious career in serious jeopardy. Brown has vocalized on many occasions via social media his strong desire to return to the league, but it has been his erratic and unpredictable behavior along with legal issues that have kept him off the field.
There are several teams interested in his services, but until his legal problems can be resolved and the NFL finishes their extensive investigation on him, there will not be any movement on that front. The only thing he can do is allow everything to be sorted out and let the cards fall where they may.
