Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was caught calling the New England Patriots a bunch of a-holes recently during a Facebook Live stream from Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown Tomlin has apologized for that moment that really hasn’t legitimately bothered anyone without an agenda, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he is thrilled with Brown’s social media escapades in the locker room.
When speaking with reporters today ahead of the AFC Championship Game, Tomlin suggested something like that could lead to Brown being a journeyman player in the NFL.
Tomlin: Antonio Brown . . . "it was foolish of him to do that, selfish and inconsiderate. It was violation of our policy, league poilicy"
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) January 17, 2017
Tomlin: Will punish Antonio Brown, internally, and may be consequences from NFL in that regard.
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) January 17, 2017
Tomlin: He's a great player, respected largely in the locker room but incidents such as this don't help him in that regard
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) January 17, 2017
Tomlin: That's often why you see great players move from team to team. Don't want that to happen to Antonio Brown.
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) January 17, 2017
Tomlin: Haven't seen AB yet. "I will see him at some point and when I do, I will address it."
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) January 17, 2017
Tomlin addressing his concern with how a player shares what’s happening inside the locker room is fine, but suggesting one of the top wide receivers in the game could be a player that travels from team to team seems a bit far-fetched. The bottom line is if Brown helps a team win, any team will be willing to put up with some Facebook and Twitter habits.
The simple solution would be to prohibit players from streaming live from the locker room, further extending the league’s pre and post game social media rules. We already suspect that language inside the locker room is going to be foul or barbarian at times, so the best course of action to prevent that behavior from leaking to the masses is to simply prohibit your players from sharing it on their phones.