It all started in 2011. One year after being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, wide receiver Antonio Brown was voted Most Valuable Player by the organization.
Antonio Brown named Steelers MVP
Two years later in 2013, when the receiver who was looked over and past on for five rounds scored his second MVP Award, while the twenty-one receivers picked before him were not even a blip on the radar.
In 2014, running back Le’Veon Bell jumped into the mix. Only to have Brown, once again, snatch the title of MVP a third..count them..three times. This team feat tied former receiver and proverbial Hall of Famer, Hines Ward.
Fast forward to 2017 and Antonio Brown has once again claimed the title as the Steelers Most Valuable Player. Accomplishing something no other player within the organization has done since wide receiver Roy Jefferson won the prestigious honor back in 1969.
Think about that for a minute.
Done thinking? Good.
Now, Brown has averaged 109.5 yards per game through the first 14 games this season. Aided by eight 100 yard receiving games, and recording 10 catches or more in six of those games. The most by any NFL receiver through Week 16.
“If you look at what he is able to do and what he is capable of every week, it’s just something spectacular. And I am happy to be a part of it,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “He’s special. AB is not human.”
Sure. That is something that you would expect from a teammate, and the one who gives Brown the opportunity to sustain such stats. But what about the ones before him?
“He has big play written all over him, and it can happen at any time,” said Hall of Famer and former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver, John Stallworth. “With Antonio you have a big play waiting to happen anytime he touches the ball, whether it’s a short pass or a long pass, catching a short one and turning it into a big one. He is a big play waiting to happen.”
Must be true if he had to repeat himself three times. But Stallworth is not the only Steelers wide receiver, MVP and Hall of Fame recipient who had nothing but positive words for Brown.
“A couple of years ago when I was back in Pittsburgh Antonio said let me rub your hands a little bit.” said Lynn Swann. “I said Antonio, you don’t need to rub my hands. You only need to do one thing, make people forget about the other receivers before you. Climb that ladder and be as good as you can be.”
How awesome is that? Swann and Stallworth singing the praises of a wide receiver that was considered being undersized and not “NFL ready.” But yet is accomplishing stats that no other receiver picked before him has or will ever accomplish. Steelers MVP aside, Antonio Brown should break the quarterback mold and be the first receiver to be named Most Valuable Player of the National Football League.