Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown says a key moment in his deteriorating relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger came when Roethlisberger threw a game-sealing interception in Denver in November.
With the Steelers trailing 24-17 late in the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger threw a pass intended for Brown in the end zone. But Broncos defensive tackle Shelby Harris grabbed it. Brown said on The Shop on HBO that was a bad pass by Roethlisberger, who refused to take the blame on himself and instead shifted it to Brown.
“You know, all you have to go do is call me out, we lose the game, he’s like, damn, AB should have ran a better route,” Brown said. “The type of guy he is. He feels like he’s the owner. Bro, you threw the s--t to the D-lineman! What the f--k? I’m over here wide open! You need to give me a better ball! But it’s like in the league, you’re going to have a guy from the team that’ll be like, boy, you can’t say nothing. I need you to get out there like, but it’s like why I got to be acting? At least ask a … ask a n----r how he feels first. Right or wrong. Right? Then if it don’t matter how I feel, then f--k it then, why am I here, you know what I’m saying?”
Roethlisberger did criticize Brown’s route-running afterward and say that the Steelers should have run a play for JuJu Smith-Schuster instead. More than three months later, that still stings Brown.