As annoying as the debate over an athlete’s likability has gotten, it seems pretty fair to bring that up when discussing Oakland Raiders receiver Antonio Brown. He has gone full heel, which means he’ll fit in nicely with Raider Nation.
Up until Sunday, Brown had criticized the Pittsburgh Steelers organization and Ben Roethlisberger, who didn’t exactly rub Le’Veon Bell the right way either.
But Pittsburgh’s quarterback isn’t Brown’s only ex-teammate under fire anymore.
During a back-and-forth with Steelers fans on Twitter — which sounds like a great idea — someone replied with a poster of JuJu Smith-Schuster to let Brown know he wasn’t the best receiver in Pittsburgh in 2018.
— Cov (@SJCthe2nd) April 7, 2019
That didn’t exactly sit well with Brown. But instead of attack the random tweeter, he went after his old teammate.
Emotion: boy fumbled the whole post season in the biggest game of year ! Everyone went blind to busy making guys famous not enough reality these days ! 🤙🏾 by the way check the list https://t.co/2SWWT8k0jx
— AB (@AB84) April 7, 2019
Smith-Schuster found out and got into a subtweeting battle with Brown.
All I ever did was show that man love and respect from the moment I got to the league. I was genuinely happy for him too when he got traded to Oakland w/ a big contract, and now he takes shots at me on social media?
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) April 7, 2019
Without re-hashing every post, there was one that particularly stood out on Instagram.
Is Antonio Brown trying to make JuJu Smith-Schuster look good? If so, he’s doing a great job. pic.twitter.com/2bIC0QMAvO
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) April 8, 2019
Was Brown’s goal to make Smith-Schuster look bad? Because he did the exact opposite here.
In fact, this post doesn’t reflect so much on Smith-Schuster as it does Brown. Sure, its’ great Smith-Schuster had respect for one of the best in the game and eventually played alongside him. But he did that privately. All he wanted was words of wisdom.
Not a favor. Not a chance to workout with Brown. Just a little advice. Little did he know he was dealing with a diva who’ll do anything to make others look poorly if it furthers his agenda.
Outside of that Instagram post, Brown appears petty. Petty is annoying, but petty is also entertaining. He went too far, though.
There’s been nothing presented publicly that shows Smith-Schuster deserved any of this. He’s simply a talented player who passed up Brown last year. Apparently, that’s enough to feel the wrath of Antonio Brown.
Good luck with that, Oakland.
