Antonio Brown is an all-decade type player: seven pro bowls, six first team all-pros, and a habitual 1,000 yard, 10 touchdowns per season receiver. You know him because you don’t really have a choice; he’s everywhere because he’s that damn good.
Over the past month or so, Brown has been posting cryptic pictures and messages to his Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram accounts, voicing his displeasure with the Steelers regime while bluntly displaying his pleasure with another. One who doesn’t even sniff Pittsburgh’s sustained success over the decade (how much can one Super Bowl appearance compensate for?). Oddly enough, Brown has shown through sheer unfiltered transparency his desire to play for the 49ers –– posting and liking pictures of himself decorated in the red and gold along with twitter commerce with a certain Pro Bowl tight end.
Anecdotes from both Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens claim Brown has voiced his interest to play in “the Bay.” The signs point to a player who is attracted to the qualities of the area, and the area should be attracted to the qualities of the player.
The reality of the 49ers franchise is this: they have yet to achieve a winning record in the past two seasons of the Lynch and Shanahan era. Of course, strong inclinations and signs of momentum have popped their ugly heads out of the thick of mediocrity, but yielding nothing but false hope. This process the front office chose to tackle is a legitimate “rebuild,” the phrase most synonymous with the reasoning for why you suck. The Niners have acquired nice franchise pieces, young players battle-hardened by the losing reality of their team, that surely envision their team being competitive in the playoff race for years to come. George Kittle is a top 20 player in the league. Dante Pettis runs great routes and is cat-like in his ability to use his shiftiness to find space and outmaneuver his opponents. Marquise Goodwin is a great speed option that transforms into a good route-runner when Jimmy Garropolo is on the field, and Trent Taylor is a pure “separator,” a third down converter mismatching against less quick linebackers.
What’s missing from this bunch? A pure number one, the guy that scares the defense into compensation. You could easily argue Kittle is that kind of player, and over the past season he soaked in most of the defenses attention, but why stop there? Overwhelm the defense with talent, make them choose and lose every time. Many defensive players would probably state, and some even have, that Brown is one of the best players they’ve ever witnessed play the game. If that kind of player wants to play for your franchise, you should be honored and inspired to execute the right package for his services.
