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Antonio Brown Posts Facebook Video of Steelers Locker Room After Win vs. Chiefs

Scott Polacek

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown gave fans an inside look at his team's locker room after Sunday's 18-16 AFC Divisional Round win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

He posted a behind-the-scenes video on Facebook Live—which has since been removed—that demonstrated what Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com called "a knee-buckling lack of self-awareness." BSOTV on YouTube, however, shared the video (warning: NSFW content):

The footage is over 17 minutes long and features quite a bit of showboating while head coach Mike Tomlin addresses the team.

Next up for the Steelers is an AFC Championship Game showdown against the New England Patriots. Brown gave Tom Brady and Co. some bulletin-board material and appeared to ignore the words of his coach and teammates in the process.

According to Curran, Tomlin said:

Let's say very little moving forward. Let's start our preparations. We spotted those a******* a day and a half. They played yesterday. Our game got moved to tonight. We gonna touch down at 4 o'clock in the f****** morning. So be it. We'll be ready for that ass. But you ain't gotta tell them we coming. Because some of us might not like the damn (woofkisses?) The chest pounding. Keep a low profile.

On Tuesday, Tomlin spoke with reporters about the video, apologizing for the language he used. Tomlin added that the team will punish Brown and he will also face discipline from the league, adding that the receiver has "got to grow from this."

Tomlin also noted that Brown is "extremely talented" and that his talent gets "minimized" with issues like the video. However, Tomlin did tell reporters he's not worried about the video serving as a motivation for the Patriots.

The head coach also said he has "professional respect" for the Patriots, but also "competitive animosity."

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Monday that Brown could be fined for sharing the video, citing a league official. Schefter added that NFL policy "prohibits players from posting messages on any social media platform 90 minutes before kickoff through postgame interviews."

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger also discussed his teammate's actions during an appearance on The Cook and Poni Show (h/t CBS Pittsburgh):

It's an unfortunate situation that we've got to deal with right now. That's a sacred place where things are said and hugs and tears, and it's kind of a special place. So a little disappointed with AB for that. Coach talks and then I talk, and you just don't want everyone to know what’s going on in there with the family. And also, I wish AB would have been listening to Coach and myself instead of being on the other side of the locker room filming. ...

I'll talk to AB, but like I said, it's not like it needs to be addressed in front of the team by me or anything, that's coach's job. He's the boss, he'll address it however he feels appropriate. It'll be water under the bridge here for me right now as soon as we're done talking about it.

Brady spoke about the situation during his appearance on The Kirk & Callahan Show on Monday morning, per ESPN.com's Mike Reiss:

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was also asked about Tomlin's comments during an appearance on WEEI (h/t Phil Perry of CSNNE.com), saying: "As you know I'm not on Snapface and all that, so I don't really get those."

Curran wrote that another Steeler said: "Keep cool on social media. This is about us, nobody else." Another player added: "That's a lion's den we're going into this week. It's a lion's den. I've been there. A lot of us have been there. Keep your mouth shut."

On Monday, Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report reported assistant coaches sent him text messages saying Brown's posting the video was "massively disrespectful to Tomlin."

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com spoke to an unnamed Steelers player about whether the team has a policy regarding not recording video during Tomlin's postgame speech. The player said there was "nothing official, but that'll probably be changing."

In December, the NFL fined Brown $24,309 for unsportsmanlike conduct on a touchdown celebration in a victory over the Indianapolis Colts. It brought his total fines to more than $60,000 (three unsportsmanlike fines and a uniform violation).

Brown, 28, is one of the most electrifying players in the league and finished the 2016 season with 106 receptions, 1,284 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. On Sunday, he added six receptions for 108 yards during a game in which kicker Chris Boswell provided all the team's scoring.

   

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