A. Brown blasts ex-teammate Clark

By Alan Robinson

Antonio Brown walked into the Steelers' locker room last week and almost couldn't believe what he saw — so many new teammates here, so many longtime teammates gone.

But Brown also couldn't believe all he has heard since the Steelers last played four months ago.

Namely, remarks by former Steelers safety Ryan Clark that some Steelers use marijuana to relieve pain and reduce stress. While marijuana is legal in Colorado and Washington, it remains on the NFL's banned substance list.

Brown believes negatively toned comments like Clark's need to be banned from that under-transformation locker room, too.

“When you see things like that, it shows you how guys feel when they're not part of the team anymore,” Brown said Sunday of Clark, who since has signed with the Redskins. “It's a form of bitterness or taking a shot at the team because you're not there anymore.”

Clark's remarks — and those a year ago made by players alluding to the poor conditioning of others — are exactly what the Steelers must eliminate following successive 8-8 seasons, Brown said.

“That's the type of things we need to get better at. When you see stuff like that happen repeatedly year after year — from a guy calling LaMarr Woodley out, from a guy that's calling the team out for illegal uses of a substance — it just shows the lack of team camaraderie we had in the locker room, the lack of togetherness,” Brown said.

“When you see people taking shots who were on the same team and wearing the same jerseys, that's a sign of not having that team camaraderie. That's something we need to get back, something we haven't had for the past two years.”

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/6017747-74/team-brown-clark#ixzz308rJzJD1
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Read this and it's very interesting. I can see how Clark's aspirations to be an ESPN analyst will drive a wedge between him and his team (since the media is often very good a trying to drive wedges between people).

It wouldn't surprise me if Clark was telling the truth, but I also believe there is obtained knowledge by one's circumstances that need not be made known to others.

This is one of those instances.

I also think that Brown is right that Clark may be somewhat bitter for his departure from THE greatest locker room in the NFL.

I love Ryan Clark, I truly do. However, I side with AB on this one. In my opinion, he should have kept quiet about the weed usage among his teammates. Why he had to add that comment is beyond me. Seriously, he could have said "I know many pros that smoke.....blah blah blah" , yet he specifically said "Steelers". Makes me wonder if he was "anonymous" that called out Woodley last year.

I don't think people really care (even though it is a banned substance in the NFL), but it's just the fact of keeping private details of your teammates, well, private. I hope things change this year. I really don't believe the team chemistry has been there since the departure of the likes of Farrior, Ward, and Smith.

I completely agree with what this guy says:

Antonio Brown shows he's ready to take on leadership role

By Neal Coolong on Apr 27 2014

Regardless of who said what, one sign of outstanding leadership within a group is a unified voice. The Steelers have lacked that, among other things, the last three years.

Late in the fourth quarter on Sunday Night Football, former Steelers linebacker James Harrison stood up from his stance, looked back at his teammates with his arms in the air, as if to say "what are we doing?"

Former Steelers linebacker Larry Foote seemed confused, pointing different things to different players, no one seeming to understand what he was saying.

Troy Polamalu missed an interception. So did Foote. Ryan Clark failed to make it from center field to the corner to help out cornerback William Gay. Ravens receiver Torrey Smith finally caught a pass (he dropped four that night) and Baltimore completed the season sweep of defending AFC champion Pittsburgh with a late touchdown.

It's easy to compare skill of players and the declination of that skill from the 2010 Steelers to today is fairly obvious. But the lack of cohesion, it seemed, has dropped even further.

James Farrior wasn't playing in that game against the Ravens, and perhaps he could have gotten the defense on the same page in that final no-huddle drive. Maybe he could have gotten Harrison to rush the passer, or Clark to have been ready for that shallow fade. The Steelers were 12-4 that year but it wasn't a strong 12-4 - their opening-round loss to Denver suggests that's the case.

No Steelers player called each other out after the game for any reason. It's an interesting debate going over whether that same kind of result would yield a "move onto the next game" kind of attitude among today's team.

However it should be sliced, it's been clear the team has been in a transition mode over the last two seasons from a leadership standpoint. Whether Antonio Brown's recent comments should have been made, ironically, to the media, decrying former teammate Ryan Clark for bolstering his potential post-football media career, is only half the point. It shows that transition is now starting to bear fruit from seeds planted over the last two years of roster moves, drafts and difficult losses.

Leaders know how to speak the right way on the right topics - or to not speak at all. Brown's comments could be seen as too little, too late - a shallow action that really only confirms the same self-serving things he accuses Clark of making. Or, it could be seen as the team's most productive player in 2013 sending a message to the rest of the team that, despite the specifics of the past, that's no longer the way his locker room will go about its business.

Read more:  http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2014/4/27/5659458/steelers-antonio-brown-comments-ryan-clark-leadership-locker-room

This really isn't a big deal, but as always, it gives us something to talk about.

Random thoughts ...

Why is Antonio commenting on this now? Clark made the comments back in February, and it's not like anyone was still talking about it. So what was the point of bringing it up again?

I don't see what was so bad about what Clark said. Here's the quote:

Quote :

"I know guys on my team who smoke. "A lot of it is stress relief. A lot of it is pain and medication. Guys feel like, 'If I can do this, it keeps me away from maybe Vicodin, it keeps me away from pain prescription drugs and things that guys get addicted to.' Guys look at this as a more natural way to heal themselves, to stress relieve and also to medicate themselves for pain. Guys are still going to do it."

I don't think it's a big secret that a lot of NFL players smoke marijuana. Were we supposed to be surprised that some Steelers players use it?

Clark didn't name any names, and he would have been wrong if he did. But he didn't name anyone. Right now, homosexuality is a big topic in the NFL. What if Clark was asked about the Steelers possibly drafting Michael Sam, and he said something like this: "It's not a big deal. We've had gay players on the team." ... As long as he didn't out anyone, I don't think anyone would have a problem with Clark revealing that there were gay players on the team. Likewise, he didn't out anyone's marijuana use ... it was a general statement. I don't see a difference in saying that some players use marijuana or some players were/are gay. As long as he didn't name names, what's the big deal? I think most of us are smart enough to know that both statements (even the hypothetical one) are true.

Quote :

“When you see things like that, it shows you how guys feel when they're not part of the team anymore,” Brown said Sunday of Clark, who since has signed with the Redskins. “It's a form of bitterness or taking a shot at the team because you're not there anymore.”

Clark was a free agent when he made the comments. While, technically, he wasn't a part of the team at the time, his future with the Steelers hadn't been settled yet. I've always gotten the sense that Clark considered himself a Steeler up until the time he officially wasn't. Regardless, I don't see how his comments were "taking a shot" at the team.

Quote :

“When you see people taking shots who were on the same team and wearing the same jerseys, that's a sign of not having that team camaraderie. That's something we need to get back, something we haven't had for the past two years.”

Yeah, camaraderie is important.
Ryan Clark was a well-liked guy, and I'm sure he still has good friends on the team. It doesn't matter what WE think, but how do Antonio's teammates feel about him taking shots at Clark? Does it help the camaraderie to take shots at a guy many of his teammates are still good friends with?

I respect Antonio for stepping up and trying to be a leader, something this team really lacks. But he has to learn how to choose his battles. I don't see the point of starting a battle with Clark when 1) He's no longer on the team, and 2) His comments were made months ago, and no one is even talking about them anymore. Also, this is the kind of stuff that needs to stay out of the media. Antonio, along with his teammates, should be focused on getting ready for the season, not on comments a former teammate made back in February.

Quote :

Clark responds to Brown's accusations

By Alan Robinson

Former Steelers safety Ryan Clark said he isn't “bitter” the Steelers didn't re-sign him and that wide receiver Antonio Brown isn't “smart enough” to realize what a good teammate Clark was.

Clark made the remarks on his Twitter account after Brown told the Tribune-Review that Clark's postseason comments some Steelers players smoked marijuana illustrated a fixable lack of team camaraderie.

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/6021219-74/brown-clark-steelers#ixzz30E5iuD5s
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Gingerchip wrote:

I love Ryan Clark, I truly do.  However, I side with AB on this one.  In my opinion, he should have kept quiet about the weed usage among his teammates.  Why he had to add that comment is beyond me.  Seriously, he could have said "I know many pros that smoke.....blah blah blah" , yet he specifically said "Steelers".  Makes me wonder if he was "anonymous" that called out Woodley last year.

I don't think people really care (even though it is a banned substance in the NFL), but it's just the fact of keeping private details of your teammates, well, private.  I hope things change this year.  I really don't believe the team chemistry has been there since the departure of the likes of Farrior, Ward, and Smith.

That's it right there. In the last 2 years we haven't had anyone step up and take command. Not even Ben. I respect Troy but he is to soft spoken and so is Timmons. I expect AB to be one of the leaders this year on offense but we need Heyward, Timmons, someone to take the lead on D.