In "Friday Football Footnotes," San Francisco keeps trying to lure Antonio Brown. A.B. responds to Art Rooney II's comments. And an NFC team does something the Steelers should've done a long time ago.
Antonio Brown answers Rooney's comments
Kind of.
On Thursday, Steelers owner Art Rooney II said it would "be hard to envision" Antonio Brown with the Steelers come training camp .
Those were Rooney's first public comments since Antonio Brown skipped out of practices leading into the season finale against the Bengals.
After the quotes hit the web, Brown posted this photo.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/jstaley74/status/1083517607649542144 [/embed]
This is the part where we are supposed to guess what that means.
Does A.B. appreciate the serve-and-volley with Rooney II? Is this a game to him?
Or is this a guilt trip back to the day he signed his extension?
It could also be an olive branch toward the Steelers to say he was sorry and wanted to make amends. I guess.
Maybe it's sarcasm.
However, a part of sarcasm is nuance. And nuance doesn't appear to be one of Brown's strong points.
It's not the first time Brown's social media posts and public comments have been cryptic.
However this ends, it won't be good.
<hr?
Speaking of A.B. ...
San Francisco won't stop flirting with him.
First, tight end George Kittle and Brown "made eyes" at each other on social media shortly after Brown went AWOL during the last week of the regular season.
On Monday, San Francisco legend Jerry Rice endorsed the idea of his former team acquiring Brown.
Then, on Thursday, after Brown posted that picture above, 49ers offensive lineman Joe Staley "waved" at Brown on Twitter.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/MaddenProducer/status/1083345235722334209 [/embed]
When does all this stop being cute and when does it become tampering?
The NFL should just step in here and organize the trade. "A.B., you are going to San Fran. San Fran, we are taking your picks and giving them to Pittsburgh because your players keep tampering with him on Twitter."
Novel concept
Here's an idea for the Steelers.
The Falcons are getting an instant replay manager for Dan Quinn who will also help with game management.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Kyle Flood, who was the team's assistant offensive line coach last season, will serve as a senior assistant and will help Quinn with replay challenges and clock-management issues."
Given Mike Tomlin's problems in both regards, maybe that's something the Steelers should consider for him.
Tomlin's clock management credentials have long been in question and he hasn't won a challenge in his last 10 attempts.
Gee, has anyone suggested a plan like this before?
Long time ago
I know. It's a stretch at this point. But a mere decade ago, the Steelers were in the midst of a run to a Super Bowl.
Ten years ago to the day, the Steelers were beating the Chargers at Heinz Field for their first playoff win en route to Super Bowl XLIII.
Three weeks later, the Black and Gold went to Tampa and beat the Arizona Cardinals for their sixth — and most recent — Super Bowl title.
LaMarr Woodley strip-sacked Kurt Warner on Arizona's last offensive play of that game.
Brett Keisel recovered the fumble. As it turns out, Woodley recently told Bleacher Report that he let Keisel keep the ball. But now he's considering stealing it back.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/TimTebow/status/1083534805629833216 [/embed]
Be warned, Beard.
Since we are talking about anniversaries
We mentioned earlier this week that the Steelers just had to relive the anniversary of Tim Tebow beating them in the 2011 playoffs.
For a long time, it appeared that'd be the last big win of Tebow's life.
Not so!
. @demileighnp Thank you for saying YES and making me the happiest man in the world. You're the love of my life, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.• @kellybramanphotography pic.twitter.com/kUUyUfgGG8
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) January 11, 2019
Congrats, Tim. May you and your bride-to-be live a long and happy life together.
Now please give up on that baseball career before you get your one big hit against the Pirates and ruin any playoff dreams they may have in the near future.
