Antonio Brown has not been teammates with Ben Roethlisberger since forcing a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018, but absence has not made the heart grow fonder. The free-agent receiver made that very clear on Wednesday morning when he referred to Roethlisberger as a “loser.” This statement came amid a Twitter rant about him being unemployed while other players with alleged legal issues were still allowed on the field.
The sequence of posts on social media featured many references to Roethlisberger, which caused one particular football fan to call Brown a “bum” and say that his career ended when he left Pittsburgh. In response, the receiver called Roethlisberger a loser and said to look at the numbers.
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“Check his stats before I came n I was done with that loser long time ago,” Brown wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning.
This is not the first time that Brown has called out Roethlisberger on social media. He once compared their alleged legal issues while mentioning sexual assault allegations against the QB from 2010. He also said that Roethlisberger has an “owner’s mentality” and that the pair were never friends.
Did Brown take Roethlisberger’s career to a new level, or did the Steelers QB find success before 2010? Prior to the Central Michigan product landing in Pittsburgh as a sixth-round pick, the Steelers won two Super Bowls after defeating the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals.
There was a third appearance in the Super Bowl following the 2010 season, which was Brown’s first year with the team. The Steelers lost to the Green Bay Packers, finishing a year in which Brown posted 167 receiving yards.
Originally drafted in 2004, Roethlisberger took over as the full-time starter during his rookie year and has remained in this position until 2019. An elbow injury landed him on Injured Reserve and brought the season to a halt after two games. Brown, on the other hand, was a sixth-round pick in 2010 and began starting during his second season. He was in the lineup for all 16 games, starting three, en route to his first 1,000-yard season.
Following Brown taking over as the top receiving option due to the retirement of Hines Ward and the departure of Mike Wallace prior to the 2012 season, Brown became the top option in the Steelers passing attack. He posted six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and reached double-digit touchdown receptions four times. This included three seasons with more than 1,500 yards, as well as one in which Brown led the league with 15 touchdowns.
During this stretch, Roethlisberger posted four seasons with more than 4,000 passing yards and another with 5,000-plus. Roethlisberger had only one 4,000-yard season prior, but two of his three best passer ratings were achieved prior to 2010. However, the wins were fewer in frequency. The Steelers went to the playoffs five times and reached the AFC Championship once.
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