Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger apologized to former teammate Antonio Brown for comments he made during last season about the wide receiver’s performance in a Week 12 game.
Roethlisberger admitted in an interview with CBS Pittsburgh he deserved the heat he was getting for the comments he made about Brown, in which he criticized his route running in the loss against the Denver Broncos. The loss dropped the Steelers to 7-3-1.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS' ANTONIO BROWN CALLS EX-TEAMMATE-TURNED-ANALYST 'UNCLE TOM' AFTER CRITICISM
“I took some heat and deservedly so for some of the comments on that show and especially towards him,” Roethlisberger said. “I genuinely feel bad about that and I'm sorry. Did I go too far after that Denver game? Probably.”
The quarterback added: “That's the thing about media and social media. As soon as you say 'sorry' it only goes so far. You can't take it back. And I wish I could because if that's what ruined our friendship and relationship, I'm truly, genuinely sorry about that.”
Brown, the current Oakland Raiders’ top receiver, appeared to respond to Roethlisberger’s comments. Brown tweeted “Two face” Monday afternoon after Roethlisberger’s comments had aired.
The relationship between both players deteriorated after the loss to the Broncos. Brown was later traded to Oakland.
Brown responded to the former quarterback’s comments in an episode of HBO’s “The Shop.”
“All year, the dude called me out. We lose a game, he’s like, yeah, AB should have ran a better route,” Brown said in March. “That’s the type of guy he is. He feel like he the owner. Bro, you threw that s--t to the d-line, how the f--k am I gonna get it? You need to give me a better ball!”
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Roethlisberger said he tried to reach out to Brown.
“You know, I’ve reached out to him a few times, sent him some messages, called him. I haven’t heard back,” he told CBS Pittsburgh. “But I’m sure he’s getting busy with his season and getting ready as I am with the guys that we have here. But, you know, I really am looking forward to reconnecting with him, talking because, like I said, he’s a good friend of mine. I still call him a good friend. And I hope that we can reconnect and I hope that our friendship can continue to grow.”