When Antonio Brown had his falling out with the Pittsburgh Steelers, it also included some of his teammates, like JuJu Smith-Schuster.
It has been two years since Brown left Pittsburgh and took an unprovoked shot at his former teammate on the way out — criticizing Smith-Schuster on social media for his fumble late in the season — but at no point since then have the two receivers had a conversation to reconcile things.
“Honestly, if I could reach out I would,” Smith-Schuster said on “The Michael Irvin Podcast.” “He’s blocked me on all social media — between Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, my phone number. We just live our life. I wish nothing but the best for him. For him to go out there and win a Super Bowl, congrats to him. He keeps doing it. I honestly thing he’s one of the best receivers to ever do it.”
When Brown was traded to the (then Oakland) Raiders in the spring of 2019, frustrated Steelers fans flooded his mentions, with some suggesting Smith-Schuster was a better receiver.
Brown took that as an opportunity to bash his former teammate for his costly fumble in Week 16 against the New Orleans Saints, which took Smith-Schuster by surprise and led to him firing a shot back.
Smith-Schuster, who recently signed a one-year deal to return to the Steelers in 2021, believes if Brown had never left Pittsburgh that the next season could have been special.
“If he didn’t have the falloff, I think our team would be ridiculous. Amazing,” he said. “…There’s no relationship. I haven’t talked to him since then and that’s how it is.”
Irvin, who was disheartened to hear that Brown cut off all lines of communication from Smith-Schuster, asked if he tried connecting to Brown through others. But Smith-Schuster said he thinks Brown is best if he is in his own space.
“I’ve talked to my peoples about it. I just think that he’s on a whole another level,” Smith-Schuster said. “I think he’s just doing him. I think the best thing for him is going to Tom Brady, what he’s doing, I think that’s great. As far as reaching out and having my people talk to him – still nothing. At end of day … I wish nothing but him and his family for the best and that’s it.”
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