5 greatest Steelers wide receivers in franchise history

Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown made one of the toughest plays we have seen a Steelers wide receiver make in 2016 to send Pittsburgh to the playoffs. It was dubbed the immaculate extension and Brown did it towards the end of the most dominant 6-year stretch any wide receiver in the NFL has ever put together.

He will not be a fan favorite for the way his time ended in Pittsburgh. He was a distraction for the most part. His flash and ability to find himself in spotlights for the wrong reasons rubbed the fanbase the wrong way. However, he was nearly on pace to break all of Jerry Rice’s records before he left the Steelers. He stuffed the stat sheet in a way we have never seen a Steeler do. While he was constantly drawing attention, no one could doubt the amount of work he put in throughout the season and offseason. He would often invite fans to watch his late-night workouts after practices oftentimes at 1 or 2 am via social media.

No matter your personal feelings for him off the field, he would leave Pittsburgh as 2nd among all receivers in receptions, yards, and receiving touchdowns in franchise history. The 4-time All-Pro and 7-time Pro-Bowler will go down in Steelers’ history as possibly the most frustrating talent Pittsburgh ever had on the roster. His 6-year stretch of dominance may very well never be replicated by another player. There were 3 seasons in this stretch where he averaged over 100 yards a game as a wide receiver.

That feat is unheard of. Jerry Rice is believed to be the greatest wide receiver of all-time, and he only accomplished that in a single season. Yet, AB fails to reach number 1 on this list by never winning a super bowl with his team. His way of leaving his team was also very messy and did not help his cause for this list. The 1st guy on this list did it all while being a consummate pro that embodied the black and gold’s physical brand of football.