Steelers Former WR1 Antonio Brown's Hall Of Fame Candidacy Endorsed By CBS Sports Reporter

The Pittsburgh Steelers are good at finding wide receivers. NFL experts and the national media agree on that narrative. It started in the 1970s when the Steelers trotted out two Hall of Fame receivers in Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. Nearly 50 years later, Pittsburgh still has two Hall of Fame receivers despite the popular narrative.

The Steelers, Hall of Fame voters, and indeed Steeler Nation will face a very interesting question in just a few short years. Is Antonio Brown a Hall of Fame player? Perhaps more importantly, does he deserve to make the Hall of Fame before the all-time leading receiver in Steelers history, Hines Ward? There is no easy answer.

CBS football reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala joined The PM Team w/Poni & Mueller on Wednesday for her scheduled weekly appearance. Andrew Fillipponi put the question bluntly to the long-time AFC North observer. He asked if she would vote for Brown when he was eligible for the Hall of Fame.

“Yes,” Kinkhabwala answered without hesitation. “It’s funny because I do actually sit on the Cornell University Athletics Hall of Fame. We did just have this discussion and one of the athletes that should have been a unanimous, no-brainer, someone did bring up he was kind of a jerk. One person on the board of electors did not vote for him.”

Hall of Fame voters can often be self-appointed guardians of morality. The NFL process is at best murky as opposed to MLB. The Baseball Hall of Fame voting is public, and more than one writer has had to defend questionable votes. The NFL has not had to defend excluding players or give reasons why. Terrell Owens had to wait until his third attempt to get into the Hall of Fame in what can only be viewed as “punishment” for his behavior.

“I think that Antonio Brown’s level of success, that six-year run he had, the way that nothing was stopping him. The play itself was absolutely outstanding and 100 percent Hall of Fame worthy,” Kinkhabwala continued.

Brown’s regular season statistics are impressive. That is the best word to describe his six-year run of regular season achievements. Half of his 12-season career was outstanding and worthy of Canton. There is no getting around the end of his career. He quit on the 2018 Steelers and forced his way out of town because JuJu Smith-Schuster won the team MVP award. That was the high point of what was to come over the next few years. 

“What he has turned into,” Kinkhabwala observed. “What has happened to him afterward, what he has turned into personality wise, I don’t know that it is fair to hold that against him. Not every Hall of Famer is a boy scout, let’s be honest. We are in a different time where we know a lot more about people. Things don’t get swept under the rug like they did.”

The mercurial receiver spent the next three seasons with Tom Brady. Briefly with the New England Patriots and then had two mildly productive half seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which netted him a Super Bowl ring. He also turned on Brady and engaged in a bizarre burlesque show to end his career on a New York Jets sideline. The half-naked image of Brown waving to fans might be the most bizarre sight in NFL history.

“I don’t know. I think the Hall of Fame voting is very funny,” the HBO Real Sports correspondent concluded. “Do I think it should have taken Alan Faneca as long as it did? No, I don’t. Are there people in the Hall of Fame or very quickly in the Hall of Fame and I won’t name them that surprise me? Yes. Because I am not part of that process, I’m a little wary of predicting.”

Steelers Fans Should Be Angry With Hall Of Fame's Treatment Of Deserving Inductees

The Steelers’ backlog of deserving Hall of Fame players is well documented. It is possible that Brown could make it into Canton before Ward who played in a much different Steelers offense for the first six years of his career. Ward had more receptions and touchdowns than Brown did in his entire career. He holds the record for most yards receiving as a Pittsburgh Steelers player, but Brown did end up with a little over 200 yards more for his entire career.

Brown and Ward both have six 1,000-yard receiving seasons. They both have Super Bowl rings, but Ward was the MVP of Super Bowl XL. Ward was a physical player who was the best blocking wide receiver in NFL history. He was perceived by other fan bases as a dirty player and that could be holding him back from being selected in what will be his seventh year of eligibility.

If Ward, who holds every major Steelers receiving record and Super Bowl MVP is being held out on perception, what will happen to Brown? If he sails into the Hall of Fame before Ward on his first few tries, will fans celebrate, or will there be a backlash? Both players should get in eventually, but who gets there first?

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Who should be honored in Canton first, Ward or Brown? Please comment below, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.

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