Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown's secret for success
LANDOVER, Md. — Watch Antonio Brown play the game that has made him famous, and it is a study of sudden impact built on speed, explosion and precision.
That much was evident on his 29-yard highlight of a touchdown catch Monday night, when the Pittsburgh Steelers went deep on fourth-and-1 — because they just knew the NFL’s best receiver would be in the right place at the right time.
Sure enough, Brown shot off the line of scrimmage on a flag route and got just enough separation from cornerback Bashaud Breeland to haul in a perfect strike from Ben Roethlisberger.
Just like they drew it up.
“We work on it all the time,” Brown said after the Steelers dusted off Washington, 38-16.
“Worked on it all summer in training camp in Latrobe. Glad to see it play off in a game.”
Watch Brown operate after the game, and there’s a connection to his greatness on the field.
He was the last player in the locker room Monday night, suddenly a man whose movements could not be described as fast. It was quite the opposite. Brown put on a spiffy blue patterned designer suit that was accented by a snazzy gold vest. His boots were off the chain, too. Oh, and this outfit was topped off by the type of scarf-like garment that you’d expect to see on a red carpet in Hollywood.
When he finished putting the pieces together — slowly, with the care of a watchmaker as media members waited at his locker — Brown looked as though he stepped off the pages of GQ. Then he left the locker area for one good glance at the finished product in the mirror.
Bottom line: A.B., as they call him, was tight.
But I couldn’t resist: Dude, the label on your vest is flipped up.
He seemed to appreciate the heads up. He fixed it, ASAP.
Brown, who tied Julio Jones for the NFL lead last season with 136 catches and started the new campaign with eight receptions for 126 yards and two TDs, is in the midst of one of the most productive stretches ever by a receiver. The previous three seasons, he amassed 5,031 receiving yards —second-most ever over a three-year span behind a tally produced by a man nicknamed Megatron.
Somehow, all of that production on the field has something to do with the precision off the field.
As I walked with Brown out of FedEx Field, I asked him if he thought that was the case.
“That’s in my DNA,” he told Paste BN Sports.
Brown, 28, admits he’s rather obsessed with being neat and orderly. The attention that he puts into running routes and tweaking his wardrobe extends to other parts of his life. He’s known in Steelers circles for his clean diet, which includes insisting on organic foods. At home, the father of two believes he needs to be a model of consistency.
“That’s just part of my life,” he said. “I’ve got kids. I’ve got a family. The more organized that I am, the better. I just like everything to be in order.”
It’s easy to see how that’s worked out on the field.
One of the big takeaways from Monday night’s romp was that as long as Brown is on the field for Roethlisberger to find, the Steelers offense will roll with whatever punches they encounter. The prolific attack that averaged over 30 points per game last season opened the new year without multi-dimensional running back Le’Veon Bell (three-game drug suspension), big-play receiver Martavis Bryant (one-year drug suspension), tight end Heath Miller (retired), new tight end Ladarius Green (injured) and starting wideout Markus Wheaton (injured).
Despite all of that, they put up 38 points and amassed 435 yards with fill-ins such as DeAngelo Williams, Sammie Coates, Eli Rogers and Jesse James complementing Brown.
But it just wasn’t the numbers and the production. It was how they did it. The fourth down call early in the second quarter said something about the aggressive mindset that flows from coach Mike Tomlin and is carried out by the likes of coordinator Todd Haley, Roethlisberger and Brown.
“We’re not afraid to take shots,” Roethlisberger said. “That’s just who we are.”
As Tomlin put it, “We play to win.”
And how. It helps that Brown (5-10, 181) can lose defenders with his double moves and quickness. But even better is that he plays much bigger than his frame, as if he’s really in the 6-3 range.
That’s what Roethlisberger really meant when someone asked him about his secret weapon.
“Throw the ball somewhere near A.B.,” Roethlisberger said. “That’s pretty much all it is.”
Sometimes, that’s as precise as it needs to be, because Brown will handle the rest of the details.
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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell
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