Former Steelers Safety Ryan Clark: No regrets over handling of Antonio Brown’s alarming behavior

Former Steelers’ Clark Speaks To Any Regrets About AB

Clark prides himself in being a mentor to young men and Brown’s escapades have become more legendary than some of his incredible catches. Clark was asked about how he feels he handled Brown, as it looked like he was spiraling out of control and if he has any regrets. As they discussed behaviors becoming a distraction from the team, Clark noted you can get away with a lot more if you are producing.  

“Antonio Brown is legitimately one of the few people in the world whose life can be in shambles but can do that. Normally if stuff is going on or you kinda f’ed up in other places in life, like the field don’t work,” Clark said.

Clark says he understands that when people are going through personal issues, he used Tom Brady as an example, it can be used as an excuse. He said he won’t take people’s personal issues and try to make them a reason for why they are or aren’t playing well. 

“Whether it is negative or positive off the field, that’s not my business. What he is going through there, I am not gonna relate it to the field. Think about it, Antonio (Brown) could be going through stuff and could be filming Coach T (Mike Tomlin)  in the locker room and then go give you 150 (yards) and two tuds (touchdowns). Easy.”

Crawford told Clark that he views him as a mentor and wonders if he wishes he did anything differently. Clark immediately and firmly says, “no.” Crawford dug for more, did Clark feel there was more he could have done?

“There wasn’t much else I could do, maybe I could have said something else eventually. A lot of that stuff is gossip. It is not stuff I am getting firsthand. You might tell me ‘Oh Tone (Antonio Brown) is doing this.’ But I don’t see it, he treats things different with me. I babysit his son. My wife planned his son’s first two birthday parties, we paid for them. I just see a young man, a single father, trying to take care of his child.”

He goes on to add that it was a different relationship between him and Brown back then. He said just as Brown was soaring into superstardom and just as things started to get weird, Clark left Pittsburgh. 

“I left before it became an issue. I could see the beginning, but more stuff happened and everybody told me afterward. Our relationship was so fractured he wasn’t going to listen to me. By telling him not to do those things I’m gonna be a ‘hater’ or I don’t want to see him ‘shine.’ I didn’t feel like what I would have to say would matter. And now he (Brown) is a leader. Who can even talk to him? Ben (Roethlisberger)? Ben doesn’t understand him that way and doesn’t want to rub him the wrong way.” 

Lastly, Clark said that he tries to refrain from judging people. Who is he, meaning Clark, to decide how someone else should be acting? 

“The other side is, who’s to know what’s wrong with Antonio Brown? Or if anything is wrong with him at all and he’s just a bad decision-maker? A lot of times we see people who are bad decision-makers, who continue to be bad decision-makers, not keep people around them who want to talk them out of making bad decisions. Because in truth we want to be in spaces where we get to do what we want to do,” Clark said.

Clark closed by saying that we all choose to surround ourselves with people who like to do the same things as us and who support us in doing what makes us happy. Those people are less likely to try to change us. He thinks that is what has happened with Brown. 

“He (Brown) doesn’t think he has done things that need to be corrected. He is solid with where his life is and if he is, what makes it ok for me to not be?”