Antonio Brown was rejected from Florida State, his first school of choice, due to academic concerns. Other schools also denied him admission, so Brown had a post-graduate year at North Carolina Tech Prep before remembering the name of the coach who once recruited him in high school. That coach, Butch Jones, was the head coach of Central Michigan.
Brown reached out to CMU, which let him enroll as a walk-on. Even though he was a dual-threat quarterback in high school, Brown adjusted quickly to playing receiver in college and earned a scholarship after a few weeks of practice. On a CMU team that also had J.J. Watt, Brown was the team’s best player, and he was named MAC Freshman of the Year.
The Steelers drafted him in the sixth round (195th overall) of the 2010 NFL draft, and he became one of the best wide receivers in the game. Then, attitude and off-the-field issues pushed him out of Pittsburgh, and he’s still looking to regain the form that made him seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro.
