Steelers’ Antonio Brown found himself in a strange position in practice when he was almost kicked out by official Terry Brown.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Antonio Brown will be reported to the league and was almost kicked out of practice, yes practice, for his behavior towards an official. The Steelers are participating in a joint practice with the Detroit Lions and after a non-call by long-time official Terry Brown, the league’s best wideout had some choice words.
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Brown made disrespectful comments towards the official, who then warned a teammate that they better get him under control before he gets ejected.
The dispute started when a pass from Landry Jones to Brown was called incomplete. Brown thought he was interfered with on the play, and that it went uncalled
Official Terry Brown said that the receiver’s actions would have gotten him a penalty in a real game.
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“We’re here to enforce the rules,” Brown said when asked about Antonio’s behavior. “This is their practice. He will do it here and get away with it. But if he thinks he can do that and get away with it in a game, he’s got another thing coming. I’m still going to report it to the league.”
At the end of the day, this is nothing more than a slap on the wrist, but come on Antonio, this is practice. There is a fine line between competitiveness and stupidity and what Brown did was just stupid. Arguing a call in practice from a pass by your third-string quarterback doesn’t qualify as competitive.
Officials should be aware of this incident and give defenders a little extra leeway when guarding Brown come the regular season.