It has not been a good week for the Pittsburgh Steelers and its fans.
The team saw its franchise quarterback leave last Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks with an elbow injury, requiring surgery that would keep him out the rest of the season and putting the team’s hopes of climbing out of a 0-2 hole into the hands of Mason Rudolph, who some fans want to give up on before he even takes the field as a starter this Sunday at the 49ers.
While there is a good chance 2019 might be a lost season and could mark the end of the Ben Roethlisberger era in Pittsburgh, at least this happened Friday afternoon…
Yeah, that’s right! It took two women accusing Antonio Brown of assault and him allegedly passing gas in the face of a doctor while dodging the bill (and other payments) for the New England Patriots, known for taking troubled players in and turning them around, to cut ties after just one game.
Week 1 of the season saw the Steelers go to New England and get curb-kicked by the Patriots 33-3 with the knowledge that Brown, who orchestrated a release from the Oakland Raiders, had just arrived in town earlier that day and while he wouldn’t play that night, was expected to suit up the next week with the feeling that this bad guy got everything he wanted.
When the allegations emerged days later, it didn’t stop New England from keeping Brown off the field against Miami, where he played and caught a touchdown, irritating those in black and gold even more as they watched the Steelers defense give up huge plays to Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense.
But finally! There was enough new information for Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft to realize that having Antonio Brown on the roster going forward wasn’t a good idea.
Now the question is, will there be an NFL team desperate enough to take on Brown, who managed to sabotage his career in less than a calendar year?
The Steelers might lose out in Santa Clara Sunday, but at least Antonio Brown won’t be playing.
But we’ll wait and see what the future holds.
SEAN GALLAGHER HAS THOUGHTS 