The new ‘young money’ family
Now that Antonio Brown has begun his fourth NFL life, seems like a good time to see what AB left behind – or, more accurately, what the Steelers have built without him.
I was in on the ground floor for the original Young Money Family in 2010, which also happened to be the same year that 93.7 The Fan was born. I can still picture the legendary locker room interview as Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders officially introduced me to YMF.
Wallace (Fast Money) was the emerging star, Hines Ward (Old Money) was nearing the end of a great career, 3rd round draft choice Sanders (Young Money) was getting the better of 6th round pick Brown in Mike Tomlin’s (“2 dogs for 1 bone”) challenge. When Ben Roethlisberger walked by, I asked “who’s that?” Wallace and Sanders quickly answered, “BIG MONEY.”
About then, AB butted in. “So, Antonio, who are you in all this?” “I’m Turk,” he answered. Sanders explained that Turk (a rapper) was “locked up.” Whereupon AB said, “When I get out, it’s on.” Was it ever.
He made a miraculous catch against the Ravens that helped get the Steelers to the Super Bowl and shortly thereafter (when Wallace turned down a nice contract extension) Brown accepted the available offer and quickly became the most prolific regular season receiver in franchise history before, well, you know the rest.
Now, Roethlisberger (whose money is both older and much bigger these days) has a new young money crew, just without the nickname. They’re really young, and really good, and don’t seem to care who gets the credit – or the targets – and it’s paid off with 7 straight wins.
So far, JuJu Smith-Schuster (24), Diontae Johnson (24), James Washington (24) and Chas Claypool (22) have been the leading receiver at least once in 6 games, with graybeard TE Eric Ebron (27) leading against Houston.
Leading receiver(s) game-by-game:
NY Giants – JuJu 6 catches – 69 yards – 2 Touchdowns
Denver – Johnson 8-92 1 TD Claypool 8-88 1 TD
Houston – Ebron 5-52 1 TD JuJu 4-43 1 TD
Philadelphia – Claypool 7-110 3 TDs 1 Rush TD
Cleveland – Claypool 4-74 1 TD 1 Rush TD Washington 4-68 1 TD
Tennessee – JuJu 9-85 Johnson 9-80 2 TDs
Baltimore – JuJu 7-67 Claypool 5-42 1 TD Ebron 4-48 1 TD
Roethlisberger’s 15 touchdowns have been spread among 5 receivers and they all have at least 2.
In Baltimore, Smith-Schuster wasn’t even targeted in the first half then caught 7 passes after Roethlisberger went “back yard football” as the Steelers rallied in the final 2 quarters. “Ben was making up plays,” JuJu says, “He does that when he seems something he likes.”
4 of Smith-Schuster’s catches resulted in first downs - “that’s how you get paid.”
The Steelers receivers’ team-first approach is certainly paying off.