Mike Tomlin might not like the penalty, or his best player risking injury, but he’s not about to tell Antonio Brown to stop celebrating.
After his star wide receiver scored a late touchdown on a punt return and proceeded to mount the goalpost (failing, however, to stick the dismount), Tomlin didn’t seem particularly concerned.
“I didn’t see it, but I’m sure we’ll rehash it and rehash it 1,000 times in the next six days and suck all the life out of it,” Tomlin said, via Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Tomlin at least deserves credit for consistency, as he’s always taken a laissez faire attitude about Brown’s celebrations. It’s probably because there are enough of them to mean good stuff is happening to celebrate.
Last year when Brown did a somersault after a 71-yard punt return score against the Bengals, Tomlin said: “It’s funny to me sometimes that people think I can stop a grown man from doing something like that. What do you want me to do? Not play him?”
This year, when a 56-yard score against the Browns was punctuated by a front flip, Tomlin replied: “Awesome play. Sick celebration. Move on.”
Is there a chance Brown could hurt himself with his gymnastics? Sure. There’s also a chance he gets hit by a piano falling out of the sky.
At the moment, Brown has 93 catches for 1,310 yards, leaving him second only to Julio Jones in those categories. So he has plenty of reason to dance.
And at a time when fun can be scarce, Tomlin’s not about to try to curb the enthusiasm of his best player.