Over the last several months, Antonio Brown has been tough some rough patches away from the game that has kept him out of the NFL. There doesn’t appear to be an end to these issues that have continued to flare up and further cloud his football future. Many have weighed in on his matter, voicing strong level of concern for the direction his life is heading over the past several months. Among those is his former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Troy Polamalu, who recently had some interesting comments about Brown‘s situation.

Antonio Brown’s downward spiral

It has been nothing short of a disappointing downfall that Brown has had over the last year.

The 31-year-old went from being one of the primary focal points in the Pittsburgh Steelers offense to out of the NFL entirely. Brown’s instability in his personal life has profoundly impacted his football career.

Brown’s tenure with the Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders both prematurely ended as he had internal spats that led to each franchise parting way with him. His off-the-field legal matters concerning sexual misconduct cost him an opportunity to stay with the New England Patriots.

These issues haven’t ended for Brown as he’s now under house arrest for charges of battery and burglary involving a moving truck driver at his home last month. That has further drawn concern from many within the NFL community, including several former teammates.

Troy Polamalu’s guilt about Antonio Brown’s situation

In the last few months, many have given their take on Brown’s situation that has pushed him out of the NFL.

Most recently, that saw 2020 Hall of Fame inductee Troy Polamalu voice during an interview on Fox Sports Radio’s Outkick the Coverage with Clay Travis that he felt responsible for his former teammate’s struggles off the field.

“Talking about Antonio, I was one of the leaders on the team when he was with Pittsburgh and I definitely feel a tremendous burden now… As a teammate, I tried to be a better brother to him, and honestly I feel a responsibility for the way he has behaved recently, and not being able to reach him when I was his teammate. Our locker room was very close, and we definitely had a very close brotherhood from the previous players that I was teammates with, and we’ve all done our best to try and reach out to him. He’s lived a very, very, very tough life and can’t trust anyone.

Polamalu spent his first five seasons in the league playing with Brown in Pittsburgh. That provided him plenty of time to interact and build a relationship with the star wide receiver. That fact that he feels quite guilty speaks how strong of a bond there was in the locker room.

It’s a tough situation for Polamalu, but there is only so much he can do as Brown’s responsible for his own actions. There will always be things that could have been handled differently, but it’s a matter that is out of his hands to prevent.

Will Antonio Brown get another chance in the NFL?

At this point, it’s quite hard to determine if Brown will have another opportunity to get back in the NFL.

The former All-Pro wideout certainly has the talent to not only be in the NFL but be the primary weapon in the passing game for nearly every team. However, it’s his legal matters off the field that could prevent him from ever getting back on the field.

Brown has several severe charges that could put him behind bars. Until he has those matters sorted out in his favor, it’s difficult to envision any team being comfortable with committing to him. Ultimately, only time will tell if Brown will ever grace an NFL field again.