Antonio Brown Rips Emmanuel Sanders, Bruce Arians on Twitter

Getty Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown

While Antonio Brown reportedly attempts to navigate his way out of the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, he’s remained fairly quiet as of late. But that changed on Wednesday afternoon after it came to light that new Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians had some words about him.

With Brown’s trade chatter remaining fairly front-and-center as of late, even with the NFL playoffs ramping up, Arians opted to voice his opinion on the topic. The former Arizona Cardinals head coach, who recently came back to the league with the Buccaneers, made an interesting statement about the Steelers wideout. It didn’t take long for Brown to fire back at Arians while calling out Emmanuel Sanders in the process.

It’s not surprising to see Brown fire back a bit at the Buccaneers coach, but the comments on Sanders, who’s currently a member of the Denver Broncos, are interesting.

Antonio Brown’s History With Bruce Arians

Brown, who was a sixth-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft has become arguably the best wide receiver in the league. But what he’s referencing is the fact that Arians was the Steelers offensive coordinator the year he was drafted (holding the role from 2007-11). The duo spent two seasons together in Pittsburgh before Arians became the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts.

The point from Brown on Sanders stems from the fact that the Broncos receiver was selected by the Steelers in 2010 also, but came off the board in the third round. While Brown has been with the franchise throughout his career, Sanders played there from 2010-13.

Although Brown and Arians spent just two seasons together in Pittsburgh, the former Central Michigan wideout made a huge leap from year one to year two. After catching 16 passes in nine games as a rookie, his numbers jumped to 69 grabs for 1,108 yards with two scores the following year. He’s thrived since that point, totaling 1,284 yards or more in six of the next seven seasons, with the only exception being 2012 when Brown missed three games.

Antonio Brown’s Comments on Emmanuel Sanders

The comments from Pittsburgh’s disgruntled star on Sanders were even more surprising, as Arians didn’t mention him, at least in the above tweet. Denver’s go-to receiver is currently rehabbing from a torn Achilles which occurred in early December, and cost him the final stretch of the year and the Broncos’ attempt for a playoff push.

It’s obvious Brown took issue with the fact that Sanders has recently been asked about his former teammate and the trade talks. During Sanders’ time with the Steelers, he was unable to turn the corner as quickly as his former teammate, totaling just 50 catches for 664 yards and four touchdowns in two years with Arians.

The 31-year-old wideout made a move to the Broncos in 2014 and proceeded to reel off three-straight 1,000-plus yard seasons. Through five years, he’s played 71 games in Denver while totaling 374 receptions for 4,994 yards and 26 touchdowns.

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