Steelers receiver Antonio Brown apologizes for posting live video from team locker room
Tomlin, 44, is in his 10th year as the head coach of the Steelers. (Dec. 28, 2016)
Nearly two days after breaking team and NFL rules by live-streaming video from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ post-game locker room Sunday night, star receiver Antonio Brown issued an apology on Twitter.
“I let my emotions and genuine excitement get the best of me, and I wanted to share that moment with our fans,” he tweeted Tuesday night. “It was wrong of me to do, against team and NFL policy, and I have apologized to Coach [Mike] Tomlin and my teammates for my actions.”
Tomlin said Tuesday that Brown would be disciplined for his actions following the team’s playoff victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The live video included audio of Tomlin making a profane reference to the New England Patriots and complaining that the Steelers have significantly less time than their opponents to prepare for the AFC championship game this weekend.
“It was foolish of him to do that,” Tomlin said of Brown during his weekly televised news conference. “It was selfish of him to do that and inconsiderate of him to do that. It was not only a violation of our policy, but a violation of the league’s policy.”
Tomlin said Brown would be punished “swiftly” by the team, in addition to any discipline he receives from the NFL.
But the coach also took responsibility for his own language in the video. “The language on the video is regrettable by me and others,” Tomlin said.
He added: “We are very sensitive to the opportunity we have as role models. I apologize for the content of the video from that perspective, as a parent and a member of the community. I take that very seriously.”
Shortly before Tomlin’s news conference, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger expressed disappointment in Brown over the incident.
“It’s an unfortunate situation that we’ve got to deal with right now,” Roethlisberger said on a local radio show. “That’s a sacred place where things are said and hugs and tears, and it’s kind of a special place. So a little disappointed with AB for that. Coach talks and then I talk, and you just don’t want everyone to know what’s going on in there with the family. And also, I wish AB would have been listening to Coach and myself instead of being on the other side of the locker room filming.”
Roethlisberger said he’d discuss the matter privately with Brown and “it’ll be water under the bridge” after that.
During his post-game speech to his players Sunday night, Tomlin warned them not to say anything that might provide any extra motivation to the Patriots this week.
Little did Tomlin know he was doing just that as he spoke.
“When you get to this point in the journey, man, not a lot needs to be said. Let’s say very little moving forward,” Tomlin said in the video, in which he can not be seen. “Let’s start our preparations. We spotted these … a day and a half. They played yesterday, our game was moved to tonight. We gonna touch down at four o’clock in the … morning. So be it. We’ll be ready for their ….
“But you ain’t gotta tell them we coming.… Keep a low profile.”
Pittsburgh’s game against the Chiefs was pushed back seven hours from its original start time because of weather conditions in Kansas City.
The video, which contains a lot of NSFW language, also included the voice of another member of the organization warning players to “be cool on social media,” as Brown and some of his teammates posed for the camera live on Facebook.
It took just a few hours for the video, which has since been disabled on Facebook, to get more than 900,000 views.
Brown led the Steelers with six catches for 108 yards, including a 7-yarder for a first down late in the game to seal the victory over the Chiefs. He had seven catches for 106 yards in a 27-16 loss to the Patriots back in Week 7, a game in which Pittsburgh was without Roethlisberger.
Twitter: @chewkiii
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UPDATES:
Jan. 18, 7:13 a.m.: This article was updated with Antonio Brown’s Twitter apology.
Jan. 17, 10:50 a.m.: This article was updated with remarks from Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger.
This article was originally published Jan. 16, 8:05 a.m.
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