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Is Antonio Brown the Steelers greatest WR ever?

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by saturdaysarebetter, Jul 26, 2018.

  1. groutbrook

    groutbrook

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    I wonder how AB would have done with the QB's Hines had for the first half of his career. Would he have developed to his current level with Kordell and Maddox under center instead of Ben.
     
  2. vlad582

    vlad582 Well-Known Member

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    I hate these questions because the game has changed so much over the eras that it's really not a fair comparison. Back in the day the defense could get away with head hunting and physically manhandling receivers without much penalty. Now you can't touch a receiver at all.

    I feel that the players now are more athletically gifted as the conditioning, training, advanced college programs, and development basically from childhood make a better player overall.

    Then the negative is that the league is a money making business that breeds little heart and more greed. Players played with pride to wear the logo and bled out on the field where these guys mostly follow the highest check. This is not aimed at Brown so much but a lot of players today.

    Put Stallworth through a bona-fide college program with a conditioning coach, eating protein powder and suppliments all day, what kind of player would he be? Make it so you can't touch him after 5 yards and would he have produced more? Guess we will never know.
     
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  3. AFan

    AFan Well-Known Member

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    Surely your not claiming that the reason that AB makes More ProBowls and All pro teams is because he's 'more popular' than Hines, Swann etc? Only 2 WRs make 1st team All Pro every yr. are you really arguing AB hasn't been one of them the last 4-5 yrs? Or are you arguing that had Hines been a nicer guy, and schmoozed players and media more, he'd have made 4 times too? Can't buy that. Maybe just maybe, AB's reaally been one of the leagues 2 best WRs the last few yrs.
     
  4. AFan

    AFan Well-Known Member

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    Funny thing, 3 of Hines 4 Pro Bowl seasons were Pre-Ben (2001 to 2003), after Ben got here Hines only went to the Pro Bowl once. So it's fair to say Hines had established himself already before Ben arrives.
     
  5. AFan

    AFan Well-Known Member

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    I think it's clear, Jerry Rice is the GOAT, he has stats, titles everything and he's waaaay ahead of everyone. But how does ABcompare to whoever you think is #2 after Rice? Pretty favorably, I'd think.

    If your a QB, a leader, titles are a fair factor in determine who is an all time great. For other positions I'm inclined to fine it less weight. I grew up watching OJ Simpson, a despicable human being, but the greatest RB I ever saw. Barry Sanders too. They both played on crap teams, but they were great. If Jerry Rice had never wn a title, he's still be in consideration as the best of all time.

    For most positions, I think titles are icing on the cake, they seal the argument. But they're not determinant of greatness.
     
  6. groutbrook

    groutbrook

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    True, but my focus was more on how AB would have developed, not Hines. We saw how Hines developed.
    I wouldn't base much on Hines pro bowl appearances. He was one of the most hated players in the league for the second half of his career, by players and fans.
     
  7. 86WardsWay

    86WardsWay Well-Known Member

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    I think you misunderstood my point. It was so much harder back in the day for Swann, Stallworth and others to make the pro bowl in their latter years where as nowadays AB will more than likely make it on his name alone should his stats falter going forward. That's why I gave the example of Polamalu in his later years. AB deserves every accolade he gets up to this point in his career.
     
  8. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    No need for fancy words, this is a message board :shrug:.
     
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  9. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    All these stats AB is putting up don't mean a thing if he can't win a ring.
     
  10. Steelers304

    Steelers304 Well-Known Member

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    AB already one of the best to ever do it across any team. by far and a way the best steelers WR . FACTS
     
  11. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    Rice is the best receiver in NFL history and Brown isn't going to catch him.

    That said, yes, he is the best the Steelers ever had. Ward isn't close. Neither is Swann. Stallworth has an argument, but Brown combines his consistency with Swann's ability to make spectacular catches.

    Judging a wide receiver by his team's success is ridiculous.They can't win games by themselves.
     
  12. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    They all made the teams better. Hines did a lot of things that contributed in different ways that AB doesn't. Blocking is one of them. Lipps has to be in the conversation too. Hines did what he did. AB does what he does. Swann, stalworth and lipps did what they did well and all these guys were great receivers for the B&G in their own right. :cool:
     
  13. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    Not fancy words I assure you. :)
     
  14. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

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    He occasionally tosses out words that I have a hard time utilizing in my low social circle. :huh:
     
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  15. Diamond

    Diamond Well-Known Member

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    Certainly Swan has that SB resume to make him the steeler legend he is:

    Pittsburgh became the third team to win back-to-back Super Bowl championships. They were led by balletic wide receiver Lynn Swann, who set a Super Bowl record with 161 receiving yards on 4 catches and earned Most Valuable Player honors.

    A 64-yard touchdown pass from future two-time Super Bowl MVP Terry Bradshaw to Swann late in the fourth quarter proved to be the decisive score.

    Earlier in the game, Swann had made a couple of acrobatic catches. One of them, a juggling, tumbling, 53-yard catch in the second quarter, is one of the Super Bowl's greatest plays. Stumbling over a defender, Swann was horizontal, parallel with the field in midair when he caught the pass.
     
  16. HeinzMustard

    HeinzMustard Well-Known Member

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    We are doomed.
     
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  17. SC Gamecock

    SC Gamecock

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    If he's not the best of all time yet, he's damn close!!
     
  18. SteelerJJ

    SteelerJJ Well-Known Member

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    One can only imaging how good Louis Lipps would have been with a top notch QB.
     
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  19. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah well your post made no sense :shrug:.
     
  20. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    Discern is the synonym for heard; peruse for read.


    As I said, Brown is the best that I have seen. I do not know much about the others.
     
  21. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    Nobody is saying they weren't all great receivers. I think Lipps is very clearly behind the others. His career high was only 59 receptions, not bad, but not special for a guy who played from 1984 to '91. (He was with the Saints in '92, but played in only two games and caught one pass.) Lipps also went over 1,000 yards only once, though he was close in '88.

    Brown blocks. He doesn't do it as well as Ward did, but that doesn't make up for the huge advantage Brown has over Ward as a receiver. Brown does everything Ward did in that area and he is a far superior deep threat.
     
  22. JackAttack 5958

    JackAttack 5958 Well-Known Member

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    My two cents. He may be the most talented receiver in Steelers history, but until he's an integral part of a Super Bowl winning team or two I'll put Swann, Stallworth and Hines ahead of him in the Steelers' WR hierarchy.
     
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  23. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    You are welcome to continue to be wrong. :)
     
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  24. Jares

    Jares Well-Known Member

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    As much as I am obsessed with judging players' desire to win, I have also always felt that Super Bowls were always given too much influence when we talk about how good a player is or was. Team success is always predicated on more than one player so it is not fair to judge a guy's skill on the team's results. I think that when you talk about the greatest, it should be based on skill and performance alone. It is why I differ from the vast majority of people who call Brady the greatest ever. I would put at least Peyton Manning, Montana, and Marino above him. With that said, I am still a Ward guy but I think Brown will get there if he keeps these kinds of performances up.
     
  25. JackAttack 5958

    JackAttack 5958 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, well, if Lipps had Ben throwing the ball to him instead of David Woodley & company, we'd be talking about him as one of the best in team history. That dude was awesome!
     
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