Casey McGaw
1-29-16
Student Advisory Board Member
1-29-16
Student Advisory Board Member
Antonio Brown got himself into some hot water a couple weeks ago after Facebook live-streaming from the locker room after the Steelers' game versus the Kansas City Chiefs, that sent them to the AFC Championship. In the video, Head Coach Mike Tomlin can be heard calling their AFC Championship opponents a profane word. And while many Pittsburgh fans may not necessarily disagree with that word being associated with the Patriots, it was definitely not something Brown should have been streaming. This incident was a clear violation of the NFL's social media policy. Tomlin, in some very understandable anger said, “It was foolish of him to do that. It was selfish for him to do that, and it was inconsiderate of him to do that." Brown ended up paying a $10,000 fine to the Steelers for this incident, as well as issued multiple public apologies.
Everyone chalked this up as normal, idiot AB social media antics. However, it later emerged that this act may have stemmed from a six-figure deal Brown had with Facebook. Not a lot is clear about the deal itself, because Facebook wasn't too talkative about the situation. But it brings up an interesting point, and some questions I just have myself.
Where do you draw the line? I personally wouldn't do that to my coach and teammates even if I had a deal. It's not like Brown isn't making any money.....but if there was a deal in place, I'd be curious to know more details about the requirements of that deal. Was he just encouraged? Was there a clause somewhere in there about having to live stream a certain amount per week? What was Facebook asking of him? Was AB's agent involved with this deal at all or did he just go ahead and do it? Because if there was a clause about streaming requirements, it doesn't seem apparent that anyone discussed what to do/not do, the NFL's social media policy, or just basic common sense. Did he just not care? Where do you draw that line? If you're getting six-figures from a deal, does pissing off some pretty important people in your organization cross too big of a line?
It's just interesting when you think more in depth about it. I love Antonio Brown. I think he's an incredible athlete and a great asset to the Pittsburgh Steelers' organization. However, this was a doofus move man. Be smarter than your phone. I hope he truly learns from this.
Everyone chalked this up as normal, idiot AB social media antics. However, it later emerged that this act may have stemmed from a six-figure deal Brown had with Facebook. Not a lot is clear about the deal itself, because Facebook wasn't too talkative about the situation. But it brings up an interesting point, and some questions I just have myself.
Where do you draw the line? I personally wouldn't do that to my coach and teammates even if I had a deal. It's not like Brown isn't making any money.....but if there was a deal in place, I'd be curious to know more details about the requirements of that deal. Was he just encouraged? Was there a clause somewhere in there about having to live stream a certain amount per week? What was Facebook asking of him? Was AB's agent involved with this deal at all or did he just go ahead and do it? Because if there was a clause about streaming requirements, it doesn't seem apparent that anyone discussed what to do/not do, the NFL's social media policy, or just basic common sense. Did he just not care? Where do you draw that line? If you're getting six-figures from a deal, does pissing off some pretty important people in your organization cross too big of a line?
It's just interesting when you think more in depth about it. I love Antonio Brown. I think he's an incredible athlete and a great asset to the Pittsburgh Steelers' organization. However, this was a doofus move man. Be smarter than your phone. I hope he truly learns from this.