Steelers receiver Antonio Brown was fined more than $20,000 by the NFL this week, and the Steelers haven't even played the Bengals yet.
Brown was fined $12,000 for his celebratory touchdown dance, which also drew a 15-yard penalty in the game. He also was fined $9,000 for not wearing the proper shoes.
Brown thinks he's going to continue to wear the baby blue shoes in games, but he was non-committal about continuing his "twerking" dance.
"I never want to put our team in a bad position," Brown said. "Obviously, I'm not a guy trying to bring extra attention to myself. I think coach Tomlin and my teammates understand that. But I do get a little excited. It's the NFL. I work hard all offseason. Anytime you score a touchdown you get a little excited. I definitely have to be smarter. I don't want to put the team in a bad position, but I'm definitely going to be excited when I score a touchdown."
Brown said there is a message behind his shoes, but he wouldn't divulge what it was. He invited reporters to check out his website (Antoniobrown84.com) for information about the shoes, but there was nothing written about blue shoes.
Brown wouldn't bite on questions about Adam Jones, the Bengals cornerback who accused Brown of faking a concussion in a January playoff game in Cincinnati. Brown was concussed when Vontaze Burfict leveled him with a helmet-to-helmet hit late in the fourth quarter of the Steelers' 18-16 victory.
"Last year does not matter," Brown said. "I'm singularly focused on this game and the opportunity that lies ahead of me."
Brown said he won't be intimidated facing the team that ended his season and forced him to miss the AFC divisional round playoff game in Denver the following week.
"I'm here," Brown said. "No fear. I don't have no fear, no doubts, no worries. I'm excited to play football once again."
