Marquise Brown, cousin of Antonio Brown, goes to Steelers rival Ravens

As if Pittsburgh Steelers fans didn’t have enough reason to root against wide receivers from the Brown family …

With their first-round pick in Thursday’s draft, the Baltimore Ravens selected Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, a wide receiver for the Oklahoma Sooners.

And in an ironic twist, Marquise Brown is cousin to Antonio Brown, a receiver who became an all-pro with the Ravens’ bitterest rivals, the Steelers, before wearing out his welcome in Pittsburgh and publicly demanding a trade.

In his interview, Marquise Brown didn’t mention the Steelers, saying he was “ready to get to work” and the moment “means so much. I can’t even express the words.”

He was asked about Antonio Brown, but he did not mention the irony of his playing for a division rival of the team that had dumped his cousin.

“Just enjoy this moment,” Marquise Brown said his cousin told him.

The Pittsburgh media did notice though. “AB’s cousin to the Ravens lol,” wrote The Steelers Wire, that team’s NFL Wire site, on Twitter.

Antonio Brown was traded from Pittsburgh this off-season under years of acrimony, climaxing in his sitting out the Steelers last game of the season, a potential playoff decider, after skipping practice all week. He and numerous Steelers-related figures have been chirping publicly since his trade to the Oakland Raiders.

The Ravens fans seemed to like the pick of Marquise Brown, as the team posted a video on twitter of fan reaction, saying “The #RavensFlock loves it” and two applause emojis.

The two men, who both grew up in South Florida, had different career trajectories though. Marquise Brown was the first wide receiver taken in the 2019 draft and came from one of college football’s elite programs, while Antonio Brown was a sixth-round pick of the Steelers from Central Michigan who blossomed into the game’s best receiver.