Antonio Brown's Criticism Of Vontaze Burfict, Cincinnati Bengals Well-Founded

The Pittsburgh Steelers are widely known for having a Super Bowl or bust mentality, though expectations of a deep playoff run seemingly ended after star wideout Antonio Brown suffered a concussion in the final moments of their Wild Card matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers won’t be playing in Super Bowl 50 Sunday night, but I think the majority of fans would tell you that the team’s last-minute victory over the Bengals was enough to keep them relatively happy until the new season kicks off.

The Steelers’ hopes appeared dim even as Ben Roethlisberger trotted back onto the field. His first few attempts did very little to instill confidence in the future Hall-0f-Famer’s ability to throw the football down the field. The only thing that could beat the Bengals on that occasion was their own group of savvy but self-destructive players.

Roethlisberger’s last throw, destined for Brown, sailed far above the intended receiver’s head, and before he could reach the ground, a shoulder was thrust into the side of his head. Linebacker Vontaze Burfict was subsequently flagged, moving the Steelers into Chris Boswell‘s range. Before another play could be run, the Bengals were penalized yet again, this time for unsportsmanlike conduct on defensive back Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones. A difficult attempt became a chip shot and Boswell knocked it through for the victory.

Burfict feigned innocence, and following the game, Jones stated outright that Brown was faking the injury. Pittsburgh’s receiver remained quiet for weeks, but he broke his silence this week during multiple talk show guest appearances. He was less than pleased with the Bengals’ actions on the field as well as their comments off the gridiron, telling 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh that “guys don’t want to stop me no more. They want to take me out. They want to kill me. They want to steal my dreams. They want to ruin me. They want to end me.”

It was a bold but accurate statement, and given Burfict’s past, there’s really no question regarding his intent to injure. Normally you would want your high-profile players to hold their tongue in similar situations, but given everything that was said on the other side, can you really blame Brown for wanting to speak his mind? Especially considering his team had aspirations of a seventh championship.

Burfict is a fine player, but he’s a terrible ambassador for the game. Anytime you sign a first-round talent that goes undrafted, you better be prepared to deal with incidents that could cost your team on and off the field, though I don’t think anyone in Cincinnati’s front office expected it to cost them so much on such a big stage.