U mad, bro? Readers weigh in on Antonio Brown-Steelers saga

No surprise here! For "U mad, bro?" this week, it's all Steelers, Mike Tomlin and Antonio Brown all the time. But there is maybe more support for them and rage at me than what you may expect.

Well, I expect it all the time. But you judge for yourself.

Eli suggests there is hope for Antonio Brown to change his selfish attitude and destructive ways.

Brandon Marshall changed, immensely. People mature at different stages, traumatic unbringings throw off any sort of expected schedule of development. No reason the Steelers should have to wait around though.

— eli nadoff (@elinadoff) January 2, 2019

OK. Good call. That'd be great. A couple things, though:

• Marshall got mental health help.

• He didn't get it until he switched teams.

• That didn't occur until he came off his lowest yardage and touchdown totals of his career as a starter.

In other words, he had to get humbled first.

Vincent sent this email to me on Tuesday.

"Here is the real state of the Steelers:

We have a quarterback who is long past his best, and thinks he's the coach.

We have a wide receiver who leads the locker room and thinks his targets matter more than the score.

We have a running back who was allowed to believe that spending an entire football season on a jet ski is acceptable.

We have a secondary that routinely gets picked apart when it matters.

We have a coach that seems to be little more than a fan with a headset.

This is not a core or a coach that is on the cusp of competing in the future. It's one that is in purgatory."

A real pick-me-up to start the new year, Vince. Thanks!

However, I'm struggling to disagree with much in it. Maybe the phrase "long past his best" with Roethlisberger. But aside from that, it appears Vincent has given up optimism as part of his January cleanse.

And I can't blame him.

Mike Tomlin still has at least one supporter in Pittsburgh. His name is John.

By the time he was the age Tomlin is now (46), Bill Belichick had one playoff win and 4 out of 5 losing seasons as a HC. I'd rather bet on Tomlin's ability to pull out of a slump than a new, unproven coach.

— John Dick (@jdcivicscience) January 2, 2019

Tomlin, Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll were all unproven coaches before they got hired here, too, you know. The best quarterback Bill Belichick had before Tom Brady was Vinny Testaverde in Cleveland or maybe Drew Bledsoe in his first year in New England. This comparison doesn't hold water.

On Wednesday, I wrote about Antonio Brown's purchase of a $20,000 G.O.A.T. ring. John S. felt that purchase was ... unwise.

This guy will likely be bankrupt 3 years or less after he retires

— john s. (@stush24) January 2, 2019

You think he'll last three years, John?

Someone calling themselves "Cousin Bruce" sent an email excoriating me for my recent criticism of former Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams.

Williams lashed out at another former Steeler, Ryan Clark, because Clark used his ESPN platform to share his negative experiences and views of Brown.

Williams thought that was violating a code. Cousin Bruce agrees with Williams.

"Clark went too far in revealing a negative personal experience between himself and Brown (an active player) in 2012….Why do you feel is acceptable behavior for a now member of the media to behave in such a manner? While this is informative it's not helpful to teams in the end to divulge these issues in a hot take social media and broadcast media society….It's the team/players job to keep as much of this from public view."

Well, Bruce, Clark doesn't work for the team anymore. Are you confused about that?

He was asked for his opinion about Brown as a teammate and his actions in the locker room. He gave his response and opinions.

Clark is not being paid to defuse controversy. He is being paid to provide firsthand insight. Which is what he did.

The story Clark told about the near dust-up on the practice field with Brown wasn't a deep, personal secret. It was a football-related occurrence. Nothing more.

Former players who become analysts are paid for two things:

Expert X-and-O analysis.

First-person experience in the locker room.

If the debate at hand is "How does Brown impact the Steelers locker room?" then who better to answer that question than a person who has been a teammate of Brown's in the locker room?

It sounds to me as if you aren't upset that Clark is giving information. It sounds to me you just don't like the information he told you. Because you are a Brown apologist fanboy.

Later, "Cuz."

This guy was unhappy with a tweet I posted.

I love how all you think you can do is judge our opinions because you have a blue check.

— #HereWeGo (@412Strong) December 31, 2018

Aw, don't feel that way. I judged crummy opinions like yours long before I had a blue check.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TimBenzPGH. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.