'Burgh's Best to Wear It, No. 84: Antonio Brown dazzled before flaming out with Steelers

The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.

No. 84: Antonio Brown

The end of Antonio Brown’s career with the Pittsburgh Steelers will be remembered for how he walked away from the team before halftime of the 2018 regular-season finale.

The irony of Brown’s departure was it was perhaps the only time in nine seasons with the Steelers he gave less than a full effort.

Brown’s work rate was unmatched on the Steelers and arguably the NFL, which is how he blossomed from a sixth-round draft pick from Central Michigan into the league’s flashiest wide receiver.

Brown became the first player in NFL history to record at least 100 catches in six consecutive seasons. Twice he led the league in receptions and receiving yards. He also led the NFL — and set another of his many franchise records — with 15 touchdown receptions in his final year wearing black and gold.

Altogether, Brown finished with 837 catches for 11,207 yards and 74 touchdowns while making the Pro Bowl seven times and first-team All-Pro on four occasions.

Brown’s run of greatness was interrupted last season after his trade to the Oakland Raiders, which precipitated his brief tenure with the New England Patriots.

Because of his volatile behavior and off-field issues, Brown remains unsigned for 2020 and is in jeopardy of never putting on an NFL uniform again.

Still, what he did in those nine seasons with the Steelers made Brown the best player in Pittsburgh’s sports history to wear No. 84.

Until Brown came along in 2010, the most productive wide receiver to wear the number was Buddy Dial, a member of the Steelers’ Hall of Honor. Dial was the Steelers’ star pass-catching threat in his first five NFL seasons, catching 219 passes for 4,723 yards and 42 touchdowns from 1959-63. He wore No. 84 for his final four seasons after switching from 83.

In between Dial and Brown, the number typically was associated with tight ends on the Steelers. Among those players to wear it were Randy Grossman, Mike Mularkey and Jerame Tuman.

The best athlete to sport No. 84 for the Pitt football team was Valley High School legend Benji Pryor. A tight end, Pryor caught 101 passes for 1,267 yards and eight touchdowns for the Panthers from 1977-80. He also was an accomplished basketball player in high school, competing alongside Sam Clancy and Gene Banks on the Pennsylvania squad that defeated a team of U.S. all-stars at the 1977 Roundball Classic at the Civic Arena.

Check out the entire ‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.