NFL Rumors: Antonio Brown Reportedly Had ‘Heated’ Incident With Steelers Staff Well Before Raiders Outburst

Update: Antonio Brown has been released by the Oakland Raiders, according to a new report by The Inquisitr.

At the moment, Antonio Brown’s future with the Oakland Raiders may be hanging in the balance, following reports of a heated altercation with the team’s general manager, Mike Mayock, on Wednesday. As reported on Thursday by The Inquisitr, the four-time first-team All-Pro wide receiver allegedly threatened to punch Mayock and engaged in other forms of belligerent behavior while teammates tried to restrain him. This, as reports suggest, could lead to the Raiders going as far as attempting to void his contract with the team, mere months after he was traded to Oakland in the 2019 NFL offseason.

On Friday, Yahoo Sports‘ Charles Robinson wrote about how Brown’s former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, seemingly “enabled” the superstar receiver’s alleged bad behavior in the nine seasons prior to his move to Oakland. Robinson cited an unnamed source within the Steelers whose stint with the team “overlapped a large portion” of Brown’s stay in Pittsburgh as his report detailed an alleged incident that took place right after “AB” received his first major contract extension in his NFL career.

As the Steelers source revealed, Brown’s alleged altercation with Mayock wasn’t unprecedented, as the 31-year-old Raiders star supposedly had a confrontation of such magnitude in Pittsburgh. The source claims that during the 2012 practice session after he signed his extension, Brown was “riding” everyone on the Steelers and bragging about being the team’s franchise player, making these loud boasts known to both the Steelers’ defensive players and coaches.

“At one point it started getting really heated,” the source recalled. “It was really tense. You could feel it. So [defensive coordinator] Dick LeBeau kind of intervened and AB snapped on him and started cursing him out. He was screaming at Coach LeBeau.”

According to the unnamed Steelers insider, Brown’s then-teammates, including defensive backs Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, and Ike Taylor, all witnessed Brown’s alleged tantrum, with the crowd at practice also hearing the wide receiver as he argued with the Steelers’ coaches.

“You could tell the crowd could hear it by their reaction to it. That’s how bad it was.”

Per Yahoo Sports, this wasn’t the first time that someone who worked alongside Antonio Brown on the Steelers recalled the incident in question. In January, Clark related on ESPN that he came close to physically attacking Brown due to his alleged treatment of LeBeau. He also accused Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin of letting things “get out of hand” by allowing Brown to blow up on LeBeau in practice.

As Brown has also been accused of showing up late and not paying attention during Raiders team meetings, Yahoo Sports noted that per the Steelers source, the wide receiver apparently acted in a similar manner when he was in Pittsburgh. The insider recalled that Brown also had a reputation for tardiness and for focusing more on his phone during team meetings but was “still into it” for the most part at that time.

“He still wanted to be there and wanted to play football,” the source continued. “He was notoriously late for all kinds of things, but what’s more important: him being late for a meeting or him catching 10 [balls] for 180 [yards] and two touchdowns?”