Antonio Brown

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Antonio Brown is accustomed to fighting long odds to reach his goals. It’s something he’s been doing all of his life.

Growing up in Miami, Brown had to scratch and claw to draw interest from colleges in the talent-rich football area. And even when he did draw that interest, the 5-10, 185-pound Brown was forced to go a non-traditional route to reach his ultimate goal, the NFL

.................................................. Coming out of Norland High School in Miami, where he was a two-time Class 6A all-state selection, Brown had offers to play college football from a handful of major colleges. But he didn’t qualify under NCAA academic standards so he decided instead to enroll at North Carolina Tech.

A quarterback, Brown ran for 451 yards and 13 touchdowns while throwing for 1,247 yards and 11 more scores in just five games

...................At Central Michigan...............Brown, who declared for the draft after his junior season, finished his career with 305 catches for 3,199 yards, hauling in a pass in 41 consecutive games. He accounted for touchdowns receiving, rushing, passing and on both kickoff and punt returns. There was little doubt he was a special player.

“I love returning,” Brown said. “I pride myself on being a special player and special players play special teams. I can return, I can play receiver. I’m trying to cultivate my role. Whatever will help the team get better. Any opportunity that is presented to me, I’m going to take advantage of it.”

His return ability – he had 3,434 yards and five touchdowns on returns alone for the Chippewas – intrigues the Steelers

“He is an exceptional player with the football in his hands. He’s one of those natural guys at fielding punts and kickoff returns,” said Steelers first-year wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery. “There’s a lot of things you can do from a coaching standpoint, but if they can’t get to the spot and catch it, then you can’t really help a lot of them. He is one of those guys that does have the natural ability to catch it. He has great short-space quickness.”

http://pit.scout.com/2/977231.html

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This is only about 1/5 of the article but it is a subscription site and it's not fair to them to post the whole thing. Just wanted to share some of it because I think this guy is going to be special.

[pete74]

i think he will end up being a better wr then sanders

[billybob49]

I don't know much about the guy , but it appears he may have tons of upside . Hope he pans out even more than most expect .

[Stinky Fred]

I like this choice.

If Hines, ARE and Brown were on the field, we'd have 4 QBs out there. You'd think our brain trust could cook something interesting up.

[markymarc]

I understand that we haven't reached training camp yet, but Antonio Brown will make the final 53 man roster. With his return ability, I feel he will knock Stefan Logan off the team. I see us keeping 6 wide receivers in 2010 and they will include Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Antwaan Randle El, Arnaz Battle, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown.

[SteelKnight]

I wish Tomlin would just throw Brown in there with the first unit as the slot receiver. If he's confident, let's see what he can do. I'm sure he'd like to catch from Ben.

All ARE does is slow down the evaluation process. I want a hot comp for #3 by Sanders and Brown.

[Tone's Toes]

We have to be leading the league in short space quickness. It's all Tomlin and the assistants ever blab about.

[Merchant]

Impressive credentials for a 6th round pick. It'll be interesting to see how this one pans out.

[SteelKnight]

I'm excited. And if Brown turns out to be the star instead of Sanders so be it. Last year I was distracted rooting for Sweed over Wallace before finally giving in. Really i don't care. I like Sanders but if Brown sows up...take it.

I just want a spark. Lefty is missing something.

[whatdoiknow]

I can't say if he will be better than Snders. But no one can say Sanders has a better pedigree either. Both will have to earn it. All I know is Brown was the only real weapon on his college team. He did everything, including passing the ball on occasion and running it very well. I had Brown on my own radar during the draft as a
" Sleeper " WR prospect before Sanders. But time will tell us everything on Brown. One thing that does please me is that the kid seems to have a chip on his shoulder. A desire to succeed that even Sanders doesn't seem to have as much as Brown does. Of course that does not mean that Sanders is not driven. I just think Brown has it in him to succeed no matter what. I just hope it is here, in Pittsburgh.