Antonio Brown Slams Steelers Over Giving Cordarrelle Patterson No. 84

Antonio Brown is one of the most excellent wide receivers to wear a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform, but his inflammatory ending with the team means his jersey number, No. 84, was not shut off to other players. In 2024, the guy wearing that number is Cordarrelle Patterson, but talking on X on Sunday, Brown takes the team handing out No. 84 as disrespect to his legacy with the team.

“They ain’t really got the respect for me that I think, or the respect that you think you earned,” Brown said. “That could be trauma in itself to know just like, damn. I gave my life to the Steelers and these guys don’t even give a shit about my body of work. They will just give a random guy who scored kick returns, who never even got 1,000 yards as a receiver ever in his career [my number over] a guy that was number one in history.”

JACKSONVILLE, FL – NOVEMBER 18: Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) during the first half of an NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars on November 18, 2018, at TIAA Bank Field. (Photo by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire)

Patterson is one of the greatest kick returners in NFL history and has worn No. 84 for his entire football career, both in the NFL and in college at the University of Tennessee. Other players, such as Rico Bussey and Aron Cruikshank, have worn the No. 84 jersey before Patterson, but no one has worn it in a game since Brown departed in 2018.

Patterson signed a two-year, $6 million deal with the Steelers this offseason and decided to wear his No. 84 with the team. Brown has talked about retiring as a Steeler but feels that the team has disrespected him in his post-Steelers career by handing out his number to Patterson and other players over those years.