Antonio Brown has been very vocal about the difficulties that he’s been through in his workplace. While his issues with Tom Brady were prominently known, the most noticeable ones date back to his time with Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2017, Brown recorded a video of Mike Tomlin’s harsh pep talk before an AFC Championship game and put it out.

Reportedly, in 2018, the receiver sat out in the last game of the Steelers’ season after Mike Tomlin painted him as a fall guy for quitting on them. After all these years of friction, Brown came out waving a white flag and told the world how important of a place coach Tomlin has in his heart.

Antonio Brown shows love to Mike Tomlin!

Brown, one of the most polarizing players in the league went on an interview with Jason Whitlock and talked about Tomlin in one instance. MLFootball pointed out a noticeable moment in the conversation in a recent post on X. After all these years of departing from the team, Brown mentioned how he still has a soft spot for Coach Tomlin.

“Mike Tomlin, what’s your relationship with Mike like?” asked the host and Brown followed with a sentimental answer. “Man, that dude was like my pops, to be honest. Ever since I met Mike Tomlin, like I always knew I’d have success,” said the retired WR and added, “Once I saw him and talked with him, I knew I was going to the Steelers. And Mike Tomlin was that you know what I mean that, that father figure for me.”

Brown revealed that Tomlin had a hand in making him a mature person and got emotional towards the end talking about his ex-coach. From his words, it looked him Tomlin meant a lot to Brown, both on and off the field. However, a couple of years ago, things were not all that good between the two.

Mike Tomlin and AB had a few thorns in their relationship

AB expressed his issues with the Steelers trying to “control the narrative” when Tomlin told him to go home after Brown confessed to the coach that he’s injured and in no place to go on. “I’m a little banged up. So, I meet with Coach Tomlin and I’m telling him like, hey, man, I’m a little banged up. So, I’m going to need a little time to get right. So, he’s like, if you’re banged up, man, just, you know, you, you can just go home,” said Brown on LeBron James’ HBO show.

He reportedly didn’t like Tomlin’s response and took it to heart. “Like, you know what I mean?” Brown said. “So, you’d think it’s like, I’m going to war for these guys. Putting my life on the line, and it’s like, it’s an unknown when it comes to me just like right now, the write-ups. And it’s like, you know what I mean? They control the narrative.

After all this happened a fan accused Brown of not loving football enough and caring for his team. The WR issued a response on X (formerly Twitter) which said, “After the coach tell the team I quit while nursing some bumps then invite me to watch the show with same guys thinking I quit I cannot stand with that! I’m the bad guy doe we miss post season think about it.”

Shortly after that, he went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady in 2021. After all these years, the WR is ready to bury the hatchet and calling Mike Tomlin as a father figure is as great as it gets.