This is the view of former NFL tight end and current Fox Sports pundit Shannon Sharpe.
Sharpe labelled Brown’s criticism of Smith-Schuster as “petty” especially coming from a veteran who is making much more money than a receiver who is entering his third year in the NFL this season.
“AB that is really low bro,” Sharpe said on Fox Sports TV show Undisputed.
“You are really petty.
“He is still upset.
“AB is still a number on receiver and a number one receiver means I need to finish number one in catches and first in yards.”
Last season Brown played 15 games and had 104 receptions for 1,297 yards and 15 touchdowns.
In comparison JuJu played 16 games and had 111 receptions for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns.
“That is what this is about,” Sharpe added.
“The man is making ten times the money that JuJu’s making.
“All the Pro Bowls, all the All-Pro teams, but that wasn’t enough.
“For the first time in six, seven, years he didn’t lead the team in receptions.
After the season ended Brown had his trade request granted, when the Steelers offloaded him to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a third and a fifth round pick.
Brown’s desire to leave Pittsburgh has been well documented and following the fall out with franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, he didn’t leave the organisation on good terms.
Sharpe thinks Brown felt slighted by his former team and team-mates for giving an award to a player who he perceived was behind him in the pecking order of wide receivers.
“If Le’Veon [Bell] wins that award he doesn’t have a problem with it,” Sharpe said.
“If Ben [Roethlisberger] wins the award he doesn’t have a problem with it.
“It was JuJu.”
“He felt it was a slight, that his team-mates slighted him by voting for JuJu.
“And JuJu accepting this award, like he was suppose to say ‘you know what I cannot accept this award, AB’s been told good to me, AB you take the award, everybody know you are the MVP.’
“The man is in Oakland, which is thousands and thousands of miles away from Pittsburgh, making 15, 20 times the money JuJu is and he is still jealous about JuJu finishing first in catches and yards and won the team MVP and he can’t let it go.”
Nearly a month after making his move to Oakland, Brown was sent a Smith-Schuster MVP picture by a Pittsburgh fan on Twitter and the seven-time Pro Bowler responded by saying: “Emotion: boy fumbled the whole post season in the biggest game of year!
“Everyone went blind to busy making guys famous not enough reality these days !”
Smith-Schuster responded by saying how he had respected Brown and was happy for the 30-year-old when he got his big contract with the Raiders but also questioned Brown’s sense of self-importance.
“All I ever did was show that man love and respect from the moment I got to the league,” Smith-Schuster said on Twitter.
“I was genuinely happy for him too when he got traded to Oakland with a big contract, and now he takes shots at me on social media?
“Crazy how big that ego got to be to take shots at people who show you love!”