The Rise And Fall of The Killer B's

ben roethlisberger antonio brown and le'veon bell have the makings to become the greatest trio the nfl has ever seen they match the star power of aikman emmett and irvin and they rival the production of montana rice and craig so what killed the killer bees [Music] bringing the bees together prior to ben roethlisberger arriving in pittsburgh the steelers were at a crossroad at the quarterback position they shuffled between three different passers for five years before big ben and failed to sustain success with any of them but when roethlisberger took over in o4 to say he took the lead by storm is an understatement as a rookie he led the steelers to a 15-1 record and in his first five years he won two super bowls while ben's success was immediate and he gave the steel city some much needed consistency at quarterback it was the steelers elite defense that carried the load early in roethlisberger's tenure they had a top five defense for seven of his first eight seasons but at the turn of the decade their defensive stars were getting old and the steelers needed change and that change came in the most unlikely of forms i'm talking in the form of a sixth round pick in the 2010 draft no one knew it at the time but the 195th pick out of central michigan was about to change their organization forever welcome to pittsburgh antonio brown to say antonio brown got off to as fast as start as roethlisberger that would be a lie but it didn't take long while he didn't catch many passes his rookie year he was an instant impact on special teams he even returned to kickoff for a touchdown in his nfl debut in 2011 antonio's second season we were given our first glimpse of his special connection with big ben abe only started three games and took most of his snaps out of the slot but he still managed to catch 69 passes for 1108 yards coincidentally it was also ben's best statistical season at the time and he made the pro bowl for just the second time in his career 2012 was a down year for the steelers as a whole and big ben missed some time due to injury but behind the scenes ab was climbing the ranks within the receiver room and prepping for a statement season and when the 2013 draft rolled around the steelers added the final piece to their offensive puzzle this time it was an overlooked running back out of michigan state when pittsburgh took a chance on le'veon bell in the second round draft analysts believed he was selected too early but le'veon was about to change the running back position forever and spark an offensive revolution in the steel city the bees are buzzing 2013 started the most dominant five-year stretch from a qb receiver duo we've ever seen a b established himself as the number one receiver in the steelers locker room and he was ready to let the league know early in the season the steelers struggled and lost the first four games however antonio brown was rolling averaging over 100 yards per game but there was still something missing to the steelers offense le'veon bell he was inactive for the first three games of the season when he made his nfl debut in week four he made sure he wouldn't be inactive again finding the end zone twice following the week five buy the steelers big three were on a mission they were dominant unprecedented and most importantly making history pittsburgh went eight and four to end the season and a b etched himself into the steelers franchise record book blowing past yancey thigpen's single season receiving record with 1499 yards but he did more than reset the steelers books he accomplished feats never seen before brown became the only player to ever catch at least five passes for 50 yards in every game of a season bell also had a solid rookie campaign finishing the year with over 1200 total yards and eight touchdowns although no off-season would be more important to the killer bees than 2014 bell lost 20 pounds over the summer so now he was still big enough to run over tacklers but had breakaway speed and was more explosive than ever before already a match-up nightmare being an elite receiver out of the backfield bell frustrated opposing defenses by becoming the most patient runner the league had ever seen he would wait and wait and wait then explode through the holes in the defense in his second season and faster than ever his yards per run shot up from 3.5 to 4.7 but le'veon wasn't the only one taking his game to the next level a b and big ben also set the league on fire the killer bees were setting career highs in every stat category roethlisberger finished the season with 4 952 passing yards and 32 touchdowns brown finished with 1 698 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns and bell finished with 2 215 total yards and 11 touchdowns they became the first trio ever to have a 4 500 yard passer 1500 yard receiver and a 1300 yard rusher in a single season all three made the pro bowl and brown and bell both earned first team all-pro honors their individual success was great but more importantly the steelers were winning they finished the year 11-5 and won the division unfortunately their playoff debut would get ripped right out from under them in the final game of the regular season bell hyper-extended his knee without le'veon in the wild card round they were unable to overcome a strong ravens defense 2015 was a year of both triumph and tribulation for the killer bees le'veon bell got suspended for the first two games of the season after being caught with marijuana then only played six games before an mcl tear cut his season short ben roethlisberger also suffered multiple injuries throughout the year and missed four games in the middle of the season with an mcl sprain but antonio brown on the other hand he carried the steelers on his back and put together not only the best year of his career but one of the greatest seasons we've ever seen from a receiver he ended the year with 136 receptions 1 834 yards and 10 touchdowns as he led pittsburgh to a 10-6 record and another playoff berth a b was named to the pro bowl and first all-pro team for a second year in a row however this playoff run is where everything would take a turn pittsburgh would travel to cincinnati in the wild card round for a division rivalry game the steelers dominated the game leading 15 nothing in the fourth quarter that is until vonte's perfect left his impression on the game he sacked big ben with a hit that separated his shoulder and knocked him out of the game this rallied the bengals to a comeback where they scored 16 unanswered points then returned to lead the steelers on a game-winning drive but perfect wouldn't give up that easily late in the game burfek smashed into a defenseless a b the hit on brown laid him out limp and motionless on the ground the steelers did go on to win the game but they lost everything without a b or le'veon bell they were no match for the denver broncos the next week and ben roethlisberger was playing injured coincidentally burfict was also the player who laid a dirty hit on bell that ended his season earlier in the year he single-handedly ruined the steelers season killing the killer bees after a brutal end to the 2015 season 2016 was supposed to be the year the steelers elevated to heights higher than ever le'veon bell took that a bit too literally as he was suspended for a second time for marijuana despite bell missing the first three games of the season and a b twerking his way into some controversy it was yet another dominant year for pittsburgh and the killer bees all three players made the pro bowl a b landed on the first all-pro team for the third year straight and the steelers won the division but better than that all the killer bees were healthy for the playoffs for the first time and on the biggest stage they showed out in the wild card round they smashed the dolphins 30 to 12 with belle and brown combining for almost 300 yards and four touchdowns they then traveled to arrowhead to take on the chiefs in the divisional round once again both a b and bell broke 100 yards to pull off the road game upset but the sweet taste of victory soured quickly thanks to a facebook live video antonio brown thought it would be a good idea to give the world a sneak peek of the steelers celebration the problem was he showed steelers head coach mike tomlin talking smack about their afc championship game opponent the patriots that viral video fired up the pat's defense to be merciless and when game day came around they suffocated the killer bees and blew out pittsburgh what's the fastest way to ruin a good thing pride ego and money and in 2017 the killer bees were whipping up a cocktail with all three of those ingredients people often point out two things when trying to figure out where things changed for antonio brown one is the vontae's perfect hit and the other is the contract he got in the 17 offseason a four-year 68 million dollar deal that made ab the highest paid receiver in the league don't get it twisted he earned every penny of that deal and he was easily the best receiver in the league at the time but in the words of the late great biggie smalls no money no problems and that's exactly what the steelers got le'veon bell also wanted to be paid and was not happy when the steelers franchise tagged him prior to the season so he skipped training camp and the preseason because of it once he reported to the team for the first game of the year it was back to business as usual for the killer bees dominance to the tune of a 13-3 record on the season but the cracks in the steel armor were starting to show a b started throwing tantrums on the sideline and big ben publicly threw him under the bus on radio shows they were the most dynamic duo in the nfl but they also hated each other the trio once again made the pro bowl in 2017 brown and bell were again both named to first all-pro team pittsburgh had a first-round buy in the playoffs and when the jags came to heinz field for the divisional round no one gave him much of a chance everyone was ready for the rematch between the steelers and the patriots that is until midway through the second quarter and the steelers were down 28-7 big ben put together arguably the greatest game of his career with 469 yards and five touchdowns against the strong saxonfield defense but it still wasn't enough as they fell 45-42 in an all-time upset this loss would be the straw that broke the camel's back the breakup the off-season was dominated by le'veon bell news will he or won't he show up after another franchise tag bell refused to play without a new contract threatening to sit out the entire season if he had to then if those headlines weren't enough distraction ben was dealing with his own drama basically getting offensive coordinator and play caller todd haley shipped out of town and if that's still not juicy enough for you ab spent his offseason throwing furniture from his apartment window and being subpoenaed for going 100 miles an hour through his local neighborhood the drama off the field carried right on over to the gridiron when bell said he was sitting out he meant it the best running back in the league at the time was a no-show for the entire 2018 season the connection between ben and a.b was still as good as ever they thrived in the chaos roethlisberger threw for 5129 yards and 34 touchdowns both career highs while brown went for 1 297 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns which was a career high for him but behind the scenes everything was going to reports came out that ben and brown constantly fought at practice and in team meetings a former steelers pr department employee tweeted that big ben made a b and he wouldn't have near the same success on another team so a b lashed out with an iconic tweak trade me let's find out roethlisberger's frustration quickly boiled over and it would take just one last mistake to truly destroy the killer bees in a practice during the final week of the season ben and brown got into what would be their final shouting match brown stormed off the practice field and refused to play another down for the pittsburgh steelers the 2018 season came to an end with brown watching from the sideline in a mink coat a b demanded a trade directly after the season meanwhile le'veon bell after sitting out the entire year and giving up eight million dollars was free to sign with whoever he wanted the bees were officially dead where are they now ben roethlisberger's numbers dropped significantly after the departure of brown and bell he never made another pro bowl and never won another playoff game he went on to retire in 2022 a two-time super bowl champ and likely hall-of-famer le'veon bell never got the deal he wanted from anyone his decision to sit out turned out to be one of the worst business decisions in nfl history he got an under-market deal from the new york jets that was less than what pittsburgh had offered him the year prior in less than two years the jets cut bell basically getting no production from him while spending 35 million dollars and where do we even begin with antonio brown's pro stealer run you name it he did it he was initially traded to the raiders but before even practicing with them he nearly froze his own feet off in a cryotherapy chamber he then refused to practice because he couldn't wear the helmet he wanted and after being fined for missing practice he cussed out the raiders gm and was cut from the team he was then signed by the patriots before having two sexual abuse allegations put on him the pats had no choice but to cut him but lucky for a b once that was cleared up tom brady was able to get him signed by the bucks where he won a super bowl and right when things were looking up antonio brown got into an argument with bucks head coach bruce arians on the sideline that led to a b getting half naked and leaving the stadium mid game he was cut following the act despite 13 pro bowls and six all-pro first team distinctions perhaps the most talented trio the nfl has ever seen never made it to a super bowl let alone win one

Channel: Nonstop

Views: 224,458

Keywords: NFL, NFL history, pittsburgh steelers, nonstop sports

Id: bLK9cjOVImI

Length: 12min 45sec (765 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 24 2022