The Pittsburgh Steelers’ hopes of concentrating on practice in the run-up to the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots on Sunday have hit a snag after Antonio Brown decided to stream their post-game celebrations on Facebook Live.
The receiver’s foray into broadcasting is particularly embarrassing for the team as it included the Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin, tearing into the Patriots. It appears Tomlin was unaware his words were being recorded.
“When you get to this point in the journey, man, not a lot needs to be said. Let’s say very little moving forward. Let’s start our preparations,” Tomlin told the team in the video, which was recorded after the Steelers’ playoff victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. “We just spotted these assholes a day and a half. They [the Patriots] played yesterday. Our game got moved to tonight. We’re going to touch down at 4 o’clock in the fucking morning. So be it. We’ll be ready for their ass. But you ain’t got to tell them we’re coming.”
As it turned out, Brown let the Patriots know the Steelers are coming: by Monday morning, the video had 1.3 million views.
NSFW: Here's Mike Tomlin in the locker room postgame, via @AntonioBrown on Facebook Live. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/fL5R5vL8BS
— Steelers Wire (@TheSteelersWire) January 16, 2017
“Keep a low profile, and let’s get ready to ball like this up again here in a few days and be right back at it,” continued Tomlin. “That’s our story.”
“Keep cool on social media. This is about us, nobody else, man,” one player is heard saying.
“It’s a lion’s den we’re going into this week,” said another voice says. “Keep your mouth shut, and let’s play Steeler football.”
On Monday Steelers players shrugged off the incident defending their coach and Brown. “As far as I’m concerned, everybody in this league is an asshole in my opinion,” guard Ramon Foster said. “You have to be to play this sport. Coaches don’t become head coaches by being nice guys.”
Long snapper Greg Warren spoke of his affection for Brown. “I think there are some things that are kind of sacred,” he said. “I personally like to keep some of that stuff private. AB is AB. He can do what he wants to do. We love AB. He’s a heckuva player. We will rally around him and whatever he needs, we will help give it to him. But personally, I like some of that stuff sacred. But this is a changing world, a changing environment. I can’t be some old guy stuck under a rock.”
The video lasted 17 minutes in total, which may not count as low profile.
