Antonio Brown Attends Steelers’ First Day Of OTAs

After an arduous run of baseless offseason rumors concerning Antonio Brown’s possible holdout, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver was only too happy to flash his trademark smile as he joined his teammates for the first day of Organized Team Activities on Tuesday.

Brown had a career year in 2014, dominating opposing NFL secondaries with a league-leading 129 catches, 13 touchdowns through the air and a touch below 1700 receiving yards. But in 2015, he’s just another man on the Black & Gold. “This is a community that I love,” Brown asserted on Tuesday. “Money’s not important to me. I’ve got enough. I’m ready to play football.”

Brown’s PR skills are naturally beyond reproach, but he seems genuine in his desire to leave the financial talk until his contract is ready for renewal. In his three years with Pittsburgh, Brown has seen many a wide receiver join the team a scrub and leave a superstar. Only two seasons ago, Brown, Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders looked set to tear up the league as the young core of the NFL’s most exhilarating offense.

Presently, the tandem that once called itself “Young Money” has been disbanded, with Wallace stagnating in Miami and Sanders thriving under Peyton Manning’s direction in Denver. Meanwhile, the Steelers have brought in Markus Wheaton, a solid-if-unpolished contributor, Martavis Bryant, a sophomore speedster that exploded onto the scene last year, and Sammie Coates, a mid-round draft steal from Auburn that oozes potential.

The Steelers clearly aren’t too clingy when it comes to pass catchers. The team’s belief in moulding prospects was the deciding factor behind letting prima donna Wallace take his talents to South Beach and, less recently, forcing Hines Ward into retirement when he still had a few receptions left in the tank.

Perhaps Brown realised the error of his ways in contemplating a holdout against a franchise with no qualms about dumping anyone who isn’t a team player. Or maybe, just maybe, the humble and hardworking Brown, who has endured a strained relationship with his father in the past, actually did opt to spend some quality time with his new daughter this offseason. We’re going to lean with the latter on this one.