After his 2015 campaign, Martavis Bryant looked like an emerging star in the NFL. He played in 11 games, caught 50 balls for 765 yards, and tacked on six touchdowns. But, off the field issues kept him away from the action in 2016, and Bryant can’t seem to rebound. He has 18 catches for 234 yards and one touchdown on the 2017 season. Yeah, not good for a guy with the skills he possesses. Now, the cat’s out of the bag, and apparently Bryant is unhappy with his current role and lack of involvement in the Steelers offense.
Disgruntled wide receiver Martavis Bryant told ESPN’s Josina Anderson that he has “got to move on” at the Oct. 31 trade deadline if the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t want him to contribute to the offense.
Contribute to the offense? Like I said, Bryant has a wealth of physical talent. But, maybe missing an entire season of football has hampered that a bit. Or, perhaps his coaches have lost a little faith in him. I don’t know, but I’m not in the room.
Never mind that the entire reason the Steelers had to restock the receiving corps is because BRYANT COULDN’T KEEP HIS SHIT TOGETHER. He missed the entire 2016 season serving a suspension after MULTIPLE drug violations! The gall to criticize your team for finding capable receivers because YOU put them in a position where they needed to!
This is why people don’t like professional athletes. Because you can’t just put your head down and work when you’re unhappy like the rest of us have to. You make millions of dollars to play a game, and you’re whining about this? This is the type of stuff that makes it harder for advocates of pro athletes, of which I happen to consider myself, to convince people not to put pro athletes in a box. Of course, that’s not what’s important here. But, that’s a part of my rant.
And, listen, bro. I have you as my #3 WR on my fantasy team. I ain’t happy with the lack of game planning to get you the ball either.
The sad thing is that I could actually understand his frustration, but you can’t throw your coach under the bus like this. Mike Tomlin commands a lot of respect, people universally like him, and he’s a damn good football coach. So, you have to know this isn’t the tactful way to do this. That just seems like common sense, but we’re also talking about a guy who has played football for tons of money, and couldn’t stop doing drugs.
Said Tomlin of Bryant: “He was out of bounds with some of his actions in terms of the things that he said on social media. It will be dealt with appropriately. That ball is in my court. I haven’t visited with him yet. To be honest with you, I haven’t visited with him yet because I’ve had bigger fish to fry.”
“It’s irrelevant whether or not his gripe is legitimate,” Tomlin said. “The means by which he’s going about it is inappropriate. It creates situations like this where I’m wasting time out of my day fielding questions. … That’s why it’s an issue.”
Yeah, he mad. Rightfully so, if you ask me. But, what is he supposed to say? I like the fact that he dropped that ‘bigger fish to fry’ in there….because it’s true. With all the big personalities on that Steelers roster, I don’t envy the task Tomlin has to manage. Managing pro athletes has to be daunting enough without divas like Bryant and Antonio Brown. But, that’s why they pay Tomlin the big bucks, I suppose.
I half expect him to pull out a switch and whip Bryant’s bare ass before the week’s over with. At least that’s what I would do as a disciplinarian, but I don’t know how it works as a head coach in the NFL.
Bryant said if the Steelers don’t trade him and the issue isn’t resolved, then he’ll “just play next year out” until his contract is fulfilled.
This is a terrible decision for Bryant. Does he think this is going to improve his stock if he does hit free agency? This whole thing is ridiculous.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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