Antonio Brown on the Steelers' sidelines in 2018. Dec 30, 2018; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) looks on during warm-ups before the Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field. Brown has been ruled out of the game due to injury. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

When Antonio Brown joined Jason Whitlock on his podcast “Fearless”, things got heated, especially when it came to the discussion on racism in sports.

Brown says that black athletes are treated differently than white athletes. Brown gave the example of how former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was only given a four-game suspension after two allegations of rape came out, while players like Michael Vick was treated harder by the league for his arrest on dog fighting.

“Ben Roethlisberger got suspended four games for two rape cases,” Brown said. “You in the media, you know that black players are more scrutinized than white players.”

He also pointed out how New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers also is given more leeway by the league than most black players.

“Aaron Rodgers went in front of the whole world and lied about his COVID card, Brown said to which Whitlock answered, “You don’t think he received scurinity.”

“He still played the game. He didn’t get fined he did what he needed to do. It’s a takedown by the media of black players. It’s no white media taking down white players, it’s the black media taking down black players,” Brown continued.

Although he never called out Whitlock, who has also been accused in the past of dragging popular black athletes on his platform to please his conservative white audience, he did mention other black run sites like the “The Shade Room” of putting out a misconception about black athletes.

If you examine what Brown is saying, you might agree with him. ESPN is the perfect example of this. Shows like “Get Up” and “First Take” have spent the majority of their time during the NFL season talking about Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, both of whom are black.

Each player has been dragged because of their lack of success especially this year. The Eagles’ lack of success was blamed mostly on Hurts more than the Eagles’ coaching staff. Yet, when it came to Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, the same has not been said about him although he once again lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs and has yet to get this team to a Super Bowl, unlike Hurts.

Prescott, on the other hand, is a favorite target of ESPN hosts because of the Cowboys’ lack of success in the playoffs. They also know, love or hate them, the Cowboys bring in the ratings from viewers and they never miss a chance to talk about him or the Cowboys when the subject arises but is it fair?

While Prescott and Hurts have kept themselves out of trouble and out of the media spotlight, Rodgers just can’t seem to help himself. As Brown pointed out, Rodgers lied about being vaccinated and admitted to taking drugs and the league did nothing to him.

Meanwhile, Calvin Ridley was suspended from the league for a year for gambling and it wasn’t even against his own team. Was racism involved? Who knows, but it was not a good look for the league to treat Ridley harder than they did Rodgers.

Brown may be wrong about many topics, but this may be one topic he might be right about this time.

{Fearless}

About Stacey Mickles

Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.