ESPN’s Ryan Clark on Antonio Brown: ‘He’s Just Not a Good Human’

Antonio Brown
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown tried to embarrass former Pittsburgh teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster on Twitter this week, by pointing out a key fumble from last season.

Why would Brown do this to Smith-Schuster? Former Pittsburgh teammate Ryan Clark has a simple answer: “He’s showing y’all that he’s just not a good human.” Clark said on ESPN’s morning show.

The impetus for Brown pointing out Smith-Schuster’s fumble was a fan pointing out on Twitter that Smith-Schuster, not Brown, was the Steeler’s MVP last year.

“Emotion: boy fumbled the whole post season in the biggest game of year! Everyone went blind, to busy making guys famous, not enough reality these days,” tweeted Brown.

This tweet infuriated not only Smith-Schuster, but other players around the league who felt Brown went too far. NFL safeties Eric Weddle (Los Angeles Rams) and Justin Reid (Houston Texans) blasted Brown on twitter.

“No need for that. Showing true colors right here. No respect for this dude,” tweeted Weddle.

“I respect his game but I can’t wait to smash this dude. No need for that,” tweeted Reid.

This type of behavior is a big reason why the Steelers traded Brown to the Raiders on March 9. The last couple of seasons the Steelers feel he hasn’t been the best team player, fighting with teammates/coaches and being late for meetings.

Clark, who Brown called an “Uncle Tom” in January, thinks everyone is now seeing the wide receiver’s true colors.

“I think the world is kind of starting to see it now, even other players around the league who have no affiliation with the Oakland Raiders, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, they are kind of over the antics,” Clark said.

In Week 16 of the 2018 season, the Steelers were down three points to New Orleans with 41 seconds to go, and the ball on the Saints’ 42-yard line. So they were close to field goal range and a chance to tie the game. Smith-Schuster caught a pass, and fighting for extra yards, fumbled, and the Saints recovered.

“You go at a guy at his lowest moment,” Clark said. “You think back to that game against the Saints, JuJu Smith-Schuster is on the sideline crying about the fumble, crying about maybe having lost the post-season opportunity for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and what is Antonio Brown doing? He’s smiling and taking pictures with (Saints WR) Michael Thomas. You know why? Because he went off that day. He killed [cornerback] Marshon Lattimore. He had two touchdowns, because he’s about stats, he’s about money. Now he will get his money in Oakland and if (QB) Derek Carr can find a way to get the ball to him, I believe he’ll be successful and get his stats, but that’s all he cares about.”

Smith-Schuster was disappointed in Brown’s tweet, especially since he thought they had a good relationship.

“All I ever did was show that man love and respect from the moment I got to the league,” tweeted Smith-Schuster. “I was genuinely happy for him too when he got traded to Oakland w/ a big contract, and now he takes shots at me on social media?”

While Smith-Schuster was a little surprised, Clark isn’t.

“There is no way that we can actually come to a conclusion on [why he’s acting this way], or find a solution as to why he’s doing the things he’s doing, other than that he’s just not a good dude,” Clark said.

Clark thinks the 30-year-old receiver had the public fooled for a long time.

“What he is doing now is showing the world that he’s different behind that sly smile, he’s different behind the touchdown dances, behind the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ antics,” Clark said. “There’s a different side behind that (number) 84 that we hadn’t yet seen, and now each and every day, with the more money he gets, with the more attention he gets, he is starting to show us who he really is.

“This is who dude is. He hid it long enough, he was able to keep it away from the public as long as he possibly could.”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.