PITTSBURGH — There have been any number of great quarterback-receiver combinations in NFL history. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice come to mind immediately. Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. Jim Kelly and Andre Reed. Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin.
The list goes on and on.
But there never has been a quarterback-receiver duo like Tom Brady and Antonio Brown.
Let me put that another way:
We all should have a co-worker who loves us as much as Brady loves Brown.
Brady wanted to bring Brown to Tampa Bay last season despite Brown quitting on the Steelers and Oakland Raiders, playing just one game in the 2019 season and facing an eight-game suspension last season for a variety of abhorrent behavior. The Buccaneers obliged over coach Bruce Arians' better judgment.
Brady wanted Brown to get a $250,000 bonus in the final regular-season game last year against Atlanta. He made sure Brown got it by completing 11 passes to him, the last three receptions for 3, 6 and 2 yards in the final 2 minutes.
Brady wanted the Buccaneers to keep Brown this season after his three-game suspension for turning in a fake vaccination card, a violation of NFL rules and a federal crime. Arians acquiesced even though he had promised a year ago to release Brown if there was another misstep: "If he screws up one time, he's done."
There is a phrase to describe what Brady and Arians are doing with Brown:
Selling themselves to the devil.
That doesn't make Brady and Arians different than any other quarterback and coach. The Buccaneers are without their top two receivers — Chris Godwin and Mike Evans — because of injury. Brady and Arians know they need Brown to make a run at a second consecutive Super Bowl championship.
Still, it was fun to watch Arians dance when asked about his decision to bring back Brown, who, even at 33, remains one of the game's most gifted receivers, one of the best in NFL history.
"He was a model citizen [last season]," Arians told Peter King of "Football Morning in America." "I really loved the way he tried to fit in, worked his way in and gave us everything he had to go to the Super Bowl. My whole attitude on him changed. I saw him trying to be a better human being."
I'm guessing the fact Brown had six touchdown catches in the final six games last season, including one in the Super Bowl LV win against the Kansas City Chiefs, played a big part in Arians' decision to keep Brown. That plus the injuries to Godwin and Evans.
Like I said, selling himself to the devil.
Brown, who had an ankle injury this season before his latest suspension, played for the first time in 10 weeks against the Carolina Panthers Sunday. Brady targeted him 15 times and the two combined for 10 receptions for 101 yards. Brown's big day put him in line for a few more significant bonuses, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Brown will get a $333,333 bonus if he catches 11 passes in the Buccaneers' final two games, $333,333 if he has 81 receiving yards in those games and $333,333 if he catches a touchdown pass.
What do you want to bet Brady makes sure Brown hits those numbers?
"AB's become like a brother to me," Brady said earlier this year. "Just to watch him, what's happened over the course of his life the last 18 months, and, to see kind of where he was at and where's at now, makes me so happy for him ...
"So impressed by him, proud of him. Since he's got here, he's just done everything the right way."
Those comments were made before Brown's latest suspension for the fake vaccination card. Brown, speaking publicly after the game Sunday for the first time since that suspension, blamed the media for making the story bigger than it deserved to be.
"It's a lot of drama you guys create, a lot of drama that people create that want stuff from me. But that's just a part of life, a part of being in this position. I can't control what people want from me. I can't control what people write about me. I can't control what people say about me. All I could do is get up every day and be the best person I can be."
Pretty ridiculous, right?
How does Brown blame anyone but himself for all of his past indiscretions that go way beyond quitting on two teams. His previous misbehavior includes throwing furniture off a balcony and nearly hurting a child, being accused of sexual assault, allegedly assaulting a delivery man and cursing at police and screaming at the mother of his three children with the kids looking on.
And someone else is to blame for the "drama?"
"Antonio Brown is a great football player," Tony Dungy said Sunday on NBC'S "Football Night in America" broadcast. "I think he's going to be the key for the Bucs repeating if they do get another Super Bowl. But his middle name is 'drama.' That's always going to be a storyline with him."
Not that it matters to the Buccaneers.
Not that any of it matters.
Not as long as Brady is on Brown's side.
Not as long as Brady is running the team.
