Wide receiver Antonio Brown may only be in his fourth year in the NFL, but yesterday he equaled the accomplishments of John Stallworth, Louis Lipps, and Terry Bradshaw when his teammates selected him as the Pittsburgh Steelers Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career.
And Antonio Brown is having a fine season indeed.
- Brown has had at least five catches in each of the 15 games he has played in
- Brown is third in total receiving yards and catches, and 4th in catches of 20 yards plus
- Brown is also third in the NFL in punt returns, where he has also scored a touchdown
Just two years ago, when Antonio Brown won his first Steelers MVP award, the franchise faced a decision. Would they opt to resign the budding second year player in Brown or would they lean towards Mike Wallace. Wallace’s drops and his hold out made the issue easy for the Steelers.
The Steelers took an unprecedented step in extending Brown’s contract as he was entering his third season. And while it would be a unfair to say that Brown played poorly in 2012, he was inconsistent along with the rest of “Young Money.” Some wondered if they Steelers had jumped the gun in offering the contract.
Today there is no need to debate the question.
Brown Now in Elite Company
In his fourth season Brown has grown beyond being simply a bright young receiver, he’s now on the verge of establishing himself as one of the NFL’s elite players.
- And that would be fitting with the honor just bestowed upon Brown by his teammates.
Since the Pittsburgh Steelers began recognizing Most Valuable Players in 1969, ten players have won the MVP Award more than once:
Jack Lambert, 2 (HOF)
Terry Bradshaw, 2 (HOF)
John Stallworth, 2 (HOF)
Louis Lipps, 2
Rod Woodson, 2 (HOF)
Greg Lloyd, 2
Jerome Bettis, 2
Levon Kirkland, 2
Hines Ward, 3
James Harrison, 2
As the list above indicate, good players don’t win Pittsburgh Steelers MVP awards. Great ones do.
Bell Named Rookie of the Year
Brown was not the only award winner this week at the South Side. Le’Veon Bell was named by the Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Football writers associate as the “Joe Greene Great Performance Award Winner” aka Rookie of the Year. Past award winners who remain with the Steelers include Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Maurkice Pouncey, Marcus Gilbert, and Mike Adams.
The same group awarded Ike Taylor the “Chief Award” given to the member of the Steelers who cooperates the best with the media.
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