Antonio Brown Reportedly Requests Trade After TE Jesse James Compares Steelers To Kardashians

As if the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t already have enough drama going on, their reality show-esque troubles have now been compared to, well, a reality show.

Brown Reportedly Has Issues With Ben Roethlisberger

According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, veteran wide receiver Antonio Brown, 30, requested a trade from the team due to alleged “issues” he has with head coach Mike Tomlin and veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. 

On Sunday, seven-time Pro Bowler Brown — a two-time NFL receiving yards leader — was benched for Pittsburgh’s regular season finale, a 16-13 victory over Cincinnati. Many reports claimed part of the reason for Brown sitting out was a heated argument he had with Roethlisberger just four days before. The wideout thus reportedly missed practice for the rest of that week.

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However, another notable incident regarding the Steelers recently happened. According to The Washington Post, tight end Jesse James compared the team to the Kardashians, the famous family from Glendale, California who have a hit reality television show on E! called Keeping Up with the Kardashians. 

“Ah man, we are — Kardashians,” James said. “We have, I mean, we’re something.”

James pointed to incidents of “people calling people out” and added, “We were in the front of the ticker on ESPN too much for just reasons that weren’t related to football and not for us playing great ball.”

The Steelers will miss the 2019 NFL playoffs after finishing the season 9-6-1 and second in the AFC North behind the Baltimore Ravens (10-6).

Pittsburgh has also been marred this season by star running back Le’Veon Bell‘s holdout amid a contract dispute. Several Steelers players have blasted Bell for being selfish.

Brown joined the Steelers in 2010 after being drafted as a sixth-round pick out of Central Michigan. In February 2017, he inked a five-year deal with Pittsburgh through the 2021 season. The contract — which came around the same time the team franchise-tagged Bell — averaged $17 million a year and made Brown one of the league’s highest-paid wide receivers, which means it’s tough to tell right now if he will realistically leave the Steelers immediately, unless the team has to make some serious salary cap adjustments.