Tomlin: Brown “foolish” to livestream postgame locker room
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The father in Mike Tomlin regrets the language he used to describe the New England Patriots during the postgame speech Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown’s opted to livestream on social media after a taut playoff victory over Kansas City.
The coach in Tomlin has just as big an issue with one of his team’s biggest stars forcing the Steelers to talk about something other than trying to find a way to finally beat Tom Brady when it counts.
A characteristically blunt Tomlin called Brown’s decision to broadcast more than 17 minutes of Pittsburgh’s giddy locker room to the world — a move that caught Tomlin using a handful of profanities — over Kansas City “foolish,” ”selfish” and “inconsiderate.”
“Not only is it a violation of our policy, it’s a violation of league policy, both of which he knows,” Tomlin said Tuesday.
“So there are consequences to be dealt with from his perspective. We will punish him. We won’t punish us.”
Tomlin took responsibility for his choice of words, though he was unaware of being filmed as he spoke.
During Tomlin’s brief remarks he attached an expletive to the Patriots, who earned a full day’s head start on the Steelers by virtue of beating Houston on Saturday night, 24 hours before Pittsburgh outlasted Kansas City 18-16.
“The responsibility associated with being in this thing, just from a role model standpoint, it’s something that I personally embrace,” Tomlin said.
“It’s something that we as a team and organization embrace. So that’s why the language, specifically, in terms of the content, is regrettable.”
So too is the action of the talented if sporadically diva-like Brown. The former sixth-round pick has evolved from raw project into one of the NFL’s best wide receivers.
This season he became only the second player in league history to post four consecutive 100-catch seasons.
His work…