Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – While Bryant denied Monday that he requested a trade, either he or his representatives or some combination did just that two weeks ago, the Post-Gazette has confirmed. The trade request was first reported Sunday evening by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
Two weeks ago would make it just four games into Bryant’s first season back from a year-long suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. Through the first four games, Bryant caught just 10 passes and through all of them he has 17 for 231 yards. He has been targeted on twice as many.
There probably was no coincidence that the news surfaced after the Steelers’ 19-13 victory in Kansas City in which Bryant played less than he has all season. He was not even on the field when the Steelers had a first down at the Chiefs 2 and Ben Roethlisberger passed incomplete on two of the next three plays before settling for a field goal.
Bryant played his fewest snaps on offense this season in Kansas City, 33, while rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster played 44. In the previous game against Jacksonville, Bryant was on the field for 62 snaps and Smith-Schuster 65. In their victory at Baltimore, Bryant played 48 snaps.
So Ian Rapoport broke the news last night that Martavis Bryant requested a trade from the Steelers. Pretty big news directly after the Steelers whooped up on the undefeated Chiefs for the third time in over a year. I blogged about this story last night before I went to sleep, worked my dick off all day today (just kidding), then saw this article when I got home from work today. So basically Bryant denied the whole report last night on twitter and again today during his locker room interview.
Bryant’s girlfriend Deja Hiott seems to have verified Rapoport’s original report last night in this now deleted tweet.
And now we have Ed Bouchette of the Post-Gazette confirming that Bryant’s camp requested a trade two weeks ago.
I mean, can this guy do anything without tripping and falling directly on his face? He got suspended all of last year because he couldn’t stop stop smoking weed, he threw Sammy Coates under the bus on twitter the moment the Steelers drafted JuJu Smith-Schuster, he got all butthurt after Big Ben said he let the team down last year over the summer, and now he’s asking for a trade because he’s unhappy he’s not getting the ball enough this year. Meanwhile, people were calling Antonio Brown (i.e. the best wide receiver in football) a distraction two weeks ago for going on a sideline tantrum in Baltimore. THIS GUY IS THE GODDAMN DISTRACTION! Not Antonio Brown. I said it last night, and I’ll say it again. When you play on the same offense as Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, you’re not going to get the ball as much you think you are. It’s that simple. I doubt the Steelers pull the trigger on a trade (and rightfully so because Bryant is a valuable asset to the team), but if this guy can’t stop making headlines for the wrong reasons he’s going to be on a different roster before you know it.
Peep's Burgh 