Roethlisberger is, but Antonio Brown isn’t? According to whom?
by Aubrey Bruce, For New Pittsburgh Courier
Recently, I was watching a sports program and the topic was athletes failing to serve as role models for some of today’s youth. I was forced to don a pair of thigh-high rubber boots and hold my nose before I could even attempt to listen to and navigate my way through the verbal fertilizer and gobbledygook being spewed forth disguised as dialogue and “valuable” misinformation—oops, I meant information.
Of course, first on the list of villains and ant-heroes was former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Brown was again tied to the whipping post for the umpteenth time, once again being displayed for all to see in the sports media “town square” as being the stark and perfect example of an anti-role model for any youth, anytime or anywhere. The truth of the matter is that Antonio Brown represented a perfect and shining example for all youth to emulate until he dared stand up for himself. In November 2018 Brown was accused by his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, of failing to run the correct pass route that resulted in a playoff-killing defeat by the Denver Broncos in Denver.
BEN ROETHLISBERGER
That event began his fall from grace. After a review of that fatal play it was determined that the Steelers’ demise was not because of a mistaken pass route executed by Brown, but because of an errant and ill-advised pass by Roethlisberger that ended up being intercepted in the end zone. That costly turnover by Roethlisberger determined that the Steelers would finish the 2018 season with a win-loss record of 9-6-1: ensuring that the Steelers would be couch potatoes eating Buffalo wings, gong to the restroom during commercials and sipping on ice cold Budweiser or maybe a glass of Moscato while watching the postseason action on their big screens.
When Brown refused to accept the blame for his quarterback’s mistake, the beginning of a troubled NFL existence for him was born.
If Antonio Brown would have “owned” the defeat as his mistake as opposed to defending himself and placing the blame where it was justified, all would have been “swell” in “Mudville.” Also at that point in time, “AB” would have been conveniently and “justifiably” cremated at the professional football stake and sports history would have incorrectly recorded the event as “gospel.” There have been numerous times that Steelers wide receivers have dropped perfect passes from Big Ben, and those players were unceremoniously drawn and quartered by the media and rightfully so. The albatross of defeat was justifiably put on their shoulders. However, shouldn’t all players, including Ben Roethlisberger, be held to the same performance (or non-performance) standard?
Former NFL QB Colin Kaepernick represents another “anti-role model” that comes to mind in regards to slanted and biased media portrayal. When Kaepernick, the former star quarterback for San Francisco, decided to kneel on one knee during the National Anthem in 2016 to protest social and criminal injustices, credibility and livelihood was almost instantly stripped from him by the powers-that-be. Kaepernick readily and willingly sacrificed his career to profile social and economic failures. In turn, many Americans chose to attempt to destroy him for refusing to honor a mere gesture, a song representing possibly little more than pomp and circumstance, while no attempts were made to address and rectify the social and economical disparities that were at the core of his dissonance.
On the other hand, why should anyone in any profession have to function as a role model for any child that is a part of any demographic? It is my opinion that the individuals that procreate and bring children into the world should serve as their offspring’s role model. After all, aren’t they the ones that receive all of the pleasure while creating a child? So why shouldn’t they bear all of the responsibility for guiding the life that results from their perfect or imperfect union?
Basketball great and billionaire Michael Jordan became filthy rich not just because of his athletic prowess, but he was far more socially and politically astute than many of the Black athletes of his era. As Michael Jordan’s empire grew and evolved he often did not seem to hear or react to the megaphone of injustice because the only thing that Jordan often seemed to hear and react to was the cha-ching of the cash register.
Jordan, in his athletic heyday and well beyond his playing days, was the social and political equivalent of a deaf mute. Unlike Colin Kaepernick, oftentimes Jordan seemed to be oblivious to social and economic injustices of any kind unless those issues affected his bottom line. It has been only during the past several years that Jordan would even issue a weak press release about anything other than maybe a new Air Jordan sneaker or another product that represented his brand. In terms of trying to equal the playing field for lower- and middle-class people of color, Jordan seems to have had on blinders and may have also possibly been wearing earplugs. In my opinion, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and many others like them are primarily “manufactured” images created and sustained by the media simply for our children to emulate, worship and purchase their products!
It is a proven fact that if any prominent athletes or celebrities allow the “feline” to capture and control their tongue, then the voice of the cash register will almost always sing the song of success. The media again continues to perpetually and knowingly create and propagate a false and misleading narrative.
Oh and by the way, the Steelers lost to the Cincy Bengals on Nov. 28, by the score of 41-10. In the Steelers’ home and away series against the Bengals this year, Ben Roethlisberger completed 64 of 99 passes and threw just two touchdown passes while throwing four interceptions, all the while scoring a measly 20 points. Consider Ben Roethlisberger’s combined quarterback rating of 63.3. He threw 99 passes that resulted in 20 points. Well, none of that “statistics stuff” really matters because, according to the media, the Steelers defense was again saddled with the burden of the losses because they allowed 65 points in two games against the Bengals…right??? Wrong!
Please remember this nugget of advice: Heroes are made, not born.
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