If Antonio Brown is really retired, how should he be remembered?

The former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver announced he’s done with football on Monday.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to use a sixth-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft on a small receiver out of Central Michigan by the name of Antonio Brown, no one anticipated him becoming anything more than a solid contributor for the team’s offense.

Well, Brown did a little more than just contribute to Pittsburgh’s offense during his tenure with the team. He not only established himself as one of the best receivers in Steelers history, but there’s plenty of reasons to think he’ll be remembered as one of the best pass-catchers in the history of the entire NFL.

While the last two years haven’t been amazing for his legacy as a football player or a person, his performance on the field should eventually overshadow all the commotion he was a part of on the outside of the locker room.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver calling it quits for good this time?

We’ve been here before, but Brown took to Twitter on Monday to apparently announce that he’s done playing in the NFL.

This isn’t the first instance in which the former Pittsburgh receiver has made the declaration that he’s leaving the game. Should we believe Brown this time though?

There have been numerous occasions this offseason of him being seen working out with current NFL players including Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson. So why would he waste his time doing that if he was truly done playing football?

Sure the current pandemic might have something do with his decision, among other things. But that didn’t stop him from working out in public during the last few months. So why would it stop him from playing in the NFL this year?

Whenever he does call it quits and maybe this is actually that time, Brown should be remembered as the best receiver in Steelers history and it’s not even close. In terms of talent and production, there isn’t a single former Pittsburgh receiver who was able to do what Brown did during his time in the Steel City.

Wait, but he doesn’t even have the most catches, receiving yards, or receiving touchdowns in Steelers history. Yeah, that’s cool, but he’s second in all of these categories and the guy who’s on top of the list, Hines Ward, needed 87 more games to have numbers that are slightly higher than Brown’s.

During his prime, Brown was basically unstoppable out on the field. Very few defenses had an answer for him even though they knew the ball was coming his way multiple times every game.

Brown is also someone who probably paved the way for the NFL’s recent shift in utilizing smaller receivers. Guys like Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, Jarvis Landry, Tyler Lockett, and John Brown probably aren’t given the opportunities they currently have without Brown laying the blueprint first.

His talents on the field were unlike many and eventually, he should be immortalized in football history forever and get a gold jacket from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.