Martavis Bryant has a chance to be a terrific NFL wide receiver. Maybe not on the level of Antonio Brown and Julio Jones, but a top-10 receiver. He's big. He's tall. He's fast. He has great hands. His touchdown catch in a wild-card playoff game at Cincinnati after the 2015 season as he tumbled out of the back of the end zone is one of the greatest receptions in Steelers postseason history. "He has no idea how good he can be," Ben Roethlisberger has said often of Bryant. There is no questioning Bryant's wondrous athletic ability.
Sadly, Bryant's maturity level is a much different matter.
The latest proof that Bryant needs to grow up came last week when he called out Roethlisberger over comments Roethlisberger made to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the past summer about Bryant's season-long suspension in 2016 because of marijuana. Roethlisberger said he felt betrayed by Bryant and that Bryant had lied to him.
"We should have a man-to-man," Bryant told ESPN Thursday. "Because some of the things he put out there about me, I didn't agree with how he did it. So I want to sit down and hear his own opinion, man-to-man, about why he did that."
Isn't it funny that Bryant wants a "man-to-man" with Roethlisberger? A "kid-to-man" talk would be more accurate. And Roethlisberger wouldn't be the kid.
The relationship between Bryant and Roethlisberger goes back a long way, to Bryant's rookie season in 2014 when he averaged 21.1 yards per catch with eight touchdown receptions. But the two really became close after Bryant was suspended the first time for marijuana for the first four games of the 2015 season. Roethlisberger supported Bryant more than any teammate by reaching out to him every day via text or phone call. "It meant a lot to me," Bryant said later in the 2015 season. "I started crying and everything because it meant a lot for him to show that he cared."
It's no wonder Roethlisberger felt betrayed and lied to after Bryant's 2016 suspension. Roethlisberger is all about winning and knew the loss of Bryant would hurt the Steelers because it left them with just Brown as a big-time wide receiver. The team was fortunate to get to the AFC championship game by turning more to its run game with Le'Veon Bell. It's reasonable to think Bryant will make the offense a lot better this season if he can stay on the field.
Before Bryant spoke out of turn with ESPN last week _ doesn't he need to just shut up, worry about staying clean and get ready for the 2017 season? _ he had shown signs of growing up. He did initiate a silly Twitter skirmish with teammate Sammie Coates in April after the Steelers drafted Southern California receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, tweeting that Coates _ not Bryant _ would be the man replaced by Smith-Schuster. Coates responded in kind, prompting coach Mike Tomlin to tweet, "Play nice, boys." But all of that seemed more foolish than harmful. Bryant had been largely all business at the team's offseason workouts. Of greater significance, he said he is being tested for drugs multiple times each week and, as far as we know, has stayed clean.
"He looks like a stud, as usual," Roethlisberger said of Bryant last month.
Don't think Roethlisberger isn't watching Bryant closely.
"It's more than just me. He has to win back everybody's trust," Roethlisberger told the Post-Gazette in May. "I would hope he comes up to me and we go somewhere to talk in private. After that, he has to show with his work ethic and by staying clean that he cares, really cares, about us. If he does that, it'll be huge. He can really help us. He can be so great."
Bryant needs to instigate that sit-down with Roethlisberger as soon as possible. It should have been the first thing he did after the NFL reinstated him in April. Now, the first day of training camp next week would hardly be too soon. If it happens earlier, all the better.
I'm certain the Roethlisberger-Bryant issue will blow over as long as Bryant is on the field, helping the team. Roethlisberger doesn't hold grudges. He cares too much about winning to do that. He had a rocky relationship at best with Hines Ward after Ward called him out for not playing in a game in Baltimore in 2009 because of a concussion. But that didn't stop the two from making magic together.
The difference is Ward was a mature man and a dependable teammate. Bryant has a long way to go to get there. He had better do it in a hurry.
