First Call: Antonio Brown's long overdue admission about playing career; White Sox reaction to Oneil Cruz collision, injury

It’s a little late, but maybe former Pittsburgh Steeler Antonio Brown has learned an important life lesson. The Chicago White Sox have some varying reactions to the Oneil Cruz injury and collision at home plate with their catcher, Seby Zavala.

A familiar Steelers rival won’t be back with the Cleveland Browns. And West Mifflin’s Logan Cooley has an important decision to make.

All that as “First Call” returns after a week off.

A.B.’s awakening

Now that Antonio Brown is a football owner, the volatile ex-Steeler appears to be viewing the sport through a different lens.

The former All-Pro receiver recently became a partial owner of the Albany Empire in the National Arena League. As he tweeted Saturday, Brown is starting to see the value of placing team goals before those of individual players.

That was — how can I put this delicately — a trait that Brown didn’t quite capture during his playing days.

“As a owner I finally see now why it’s important to make everyone know no one is bigger then the Team ‘! As a player I always thought opposite,” Brown admitted on Twitter Saturday.

Whether that was throwing Gatorade coolers, showing up late for meetings, getting celebration penalties or running off the field shirtless during a game, A.B. was always one to put his personal agendas first. But apparently Brown’s new vantage point from the owner’s box is giving him a different perspective.

According to CBS 6 in Albany last week, Brown says he plans to move to Saratoga to help encourage community involvement in the Empire. When asked if he’d ever consider playing, Brown replied, “If it’s sold out,” he’ll “have the pads on.”

Does that mean if Brown storms off the Empire’s sideline too, that he may have to void his own contract?

From their side

From the Pirates’ perspective, what touched off that benches-clearing altercation during their game with the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon was simple.

Carlos Santana didn’t like that Chicago catcher Seby Zavala barked at Oneil Cruz and flipped his mask toward him as Cruz was lying on the dirt with a broken ankle following their sixth-inning collision at home plate.

The benches cleared in Pittsburgh following a play at the plate involving Oneil Cruz.

(via @NBCSWhiteSox)pic.twitter.com/64JCBPmq81

— ESPN (@espn) April 9, 2023

“It’s tough. (Zavala) screamed at Cruz, and I don’t like that. I had to protect my teammate,” Santana said via TribLIVE’s Kevin Gorman.

Zavala, for the most part, seemed to have calmed down after the game, saying, “I wasn’t too happy about how late the slide was. I was just talking to Carlos Santana about it. He didn’t like what I said, and then he said something I didn’t like, and that’s what happened. … I think in a couple of days everybody will forget about it. It was just a baseball play. I didn’t want anybody to get hurt, didn’t want it to escalate that far. But, it escalated.”

Seby Zavala postgame. pic.twitter.com/K6lFDPpX84

— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) April 9, 2023

White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech was a little less judicious in his choice of words, though.

Here’s Michael Kopech’s take on the Cruz slide and the ensuing bench clearer: pic.twitter.com/SD7kSJ0eCb

— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) April 9, 2023

In my opinion, 15 years ago, that altercation never happens after a play like that. It would’ve simply been viewed as a baseball play with a bad result. But with the new “player safety” rules in place, no catcher thinks they are allowed to be breathed on at all anymore, so they react the way Zavala did.

Then again, 15 years ago, Cruz probably just trucks Zavala at home plate, and maybe it’s Zavala who is hurt instead of Cruz.

With Cruz likely out long term, the Pirates next face the Houston Astros at PNC Park. The defending World Series champs enter the three-game contest with a 4-6 record. After the Pirates’ 1-0 win on Sunday, they are now 6-3.

More sports

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• Penguins assign forward Alex Nylander back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
• Mark Madden's Hot Take: Sidney Crosby doing everything he can to save Penguins' season

Hunting for a new job

It appears as if Kareem Hunt is done with the Cleveland Browns. After four years as a division rival of the Steelers, the running back is looking for a new team.

As a free agent, Hunt has drawn very little interest. That prompted a Cleveland.com reader to ask writer Terry Pluto if Cleveland might be interested in resigning Hunt at a reduced rate.

“There hasn’t been a single rumor of him visiting with a team. I kept hearing from the Browns that Hunt was ‘slipping’ in terms of his speed. He averaged a career-low 3.8 yards per carry,” Pluto replied in a Q&A post. “The real verdict has been his lack of attention in free agency. Pro Football Focus did project Hunt receiving a two-year, $8 million deal with $4.25 million guaranteed. At this point, he should be thankful for a one-year deal in the $4 million range. The Browns want to break in Jerome Ford in the Hunt role. They believe Ford brings extra value because they like him as a kickoff return man. Hunt is 27. One theory in the NFL is running backs in their late 20s are in decline. That’s the view of Hunt. He’s not coming back to Cleveland.”

Hunt has faced the Steelers eight times over six years with the Browns and Kansas City Chiefs. He has averaged just 3.68 rushing yards per carry in those games and has two receiving touchdowns.

Thinking it over

Joe Smith covers the Minnesota Wild for The Athletic. He also sent this tweet regarding West Mifflin’s Logan Cooley, who just concluded his first college season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers with a 3-2 overtime loss to Quinnipiac in the final game of the Frozen Four.

Despite being the No. 3 overall pick in last summer’s NHL draft, Cooley (whose draft rights belong to the Arizona Coyotes), apparently isn’t sure if he is going to turn pro or go back to Minnesota for another year.

While Brock Faber and Matthew Knies signed today, I’m told Logan Cooley is planning to take a few days to think his decision over. @GopherHockey

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 9, 2023

Shortly after the defeat, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports and the NHL Network sent out a similar tweet.

Following a 3-2 OT loss in the NCAA Championship game, I do not expect a quick decision by Minnesota forward & Coyotes prospect Logan Cooley on his future.
Discussions will run into next week. pic.twitter.com/i1jTJoMBYZ

— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) April 9, 2023

One thing to keep in mind, Cooley does have an NIL deal with Chipotle to tide him over for a while if he decides to stay in college for another year of development.

So ... Logan Cooley has an NIL deal with Chipotle, which is awesome. You can see it on his official Instagram page.https://t.co/Sioqhmnk6e https://t.co/eClQV0JzCV

— Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonCHN) April 5, 2023

Cooley’s first year with the Gophers was highly successful, prior to Saturday night’s loss. Not only did the team make the NCAA final, but Cooley finished second in the Hobey Baker voting, second in the NCAA in points (60) and second in game-winning goals (7).