The Pittsburgh Steelers have dealt with their fair share of player controversies in recent history. Of course, there is not a single player that has been in the media for the wrong reasons more than former superstar receiver, Antonio Brown. Even with all the amazing plays that he would make, he eventually became more known for being a generational headcase that would make the team question if they really wanted him around. Eventually, he ran himself out of town by demanding a trade after one last tirade at the end of the 2018 season.
Brown made an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience to talk about anything they could think of. They brought up the hot button topic of censorship, which led to Brown bringing up the idea that the Steelers would not bring back one of his former teammates because of that very reason.
"Rashard Mendenhall, back in the days, he tweeted about 9/11 when he was playing, and I remember right away they had the feds calling his phone, newspaper, it was crazy," explained Brown. "He's just like, 'I don't think we should be celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden,' and we just killed him. America had just killed him."
The tweet came out May 2nd, 2011, which was the day that Osama bin Laden was killed by the American military. Most Americans were celebrating his demise, but a few people like Rashard Mendenhall did not see it that way. In fact, he had his own theories for what happened, as reported by ESPN back when the event occurred.
"What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side. We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style," said Mendenhall.
Not only was Mendenhall against the United States taking out the terrorist leader, but he also believed that bin Laden did not orchestrate the deadly attacks. He was not the only one to believe this, but with the position that he was in, his opinion was amplified to the whole nation.
Brown believed that the Steelers let Mendenhall go because of that post. He had one year left on his contract; he played it out, then walked away in free agency. If that truly was the reason, however, it's interesting that he was never shopped around on the trade block during that final season in Pittsburgh.
Mendenhall was known for speaking his mind on social media about everything, even after his retirement from the NFL. He recently defended that stance he had about saying what he wanted to whenever he felt like it. He was never worried about crossing the line, even when he was still on the field.
Steelers Had Major Reason To Be Upset At Mendenhall For Tweet
Of course, the timing of it all was awful, as many people were celebrating the death of bin Laden. However, the team had very close ties to then-President Barack Obama, as the late great Dan Rooney used to be his ambassador for the nation to Ireland. There are a few people that shouldn't be crossed, and team ownership is one of them, especially when it has nothing to do with football.
With that in mind, it makes perfect sense as to why the Steelers would be furious with Mendenhall. While free speech is a real thing, that doesn't mean that consequences won't come with it. When your boss is angry at you, you might as well just start counting the days before you're back on the market. If what Brown said is true, then Mendenhall learned that lesson first-hand.
