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playmakers continues to sour gamblers on the Steelers chances this year" />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteBehind the Steel Curtaina Pittsburgh Steelers communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsSectionsSteelersOddsShopAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Latest NewsSteelers Film Room2018 NFL Draft AnalysisLatest NewsFiled under:Latest News2019 NFL Odds: Steelers continue to drift in season betting New Dan McCullers Jersey ,3commentsAn offseason of drama and the loss of two notable playmakers continues to sour gamblers on the Steelers chances this yearEDTShareTweetShareShare2019 NFL Odds: Steelers continue to drift in season betting Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesWith over three months to go until the start of the 2019 regular season, it would appear that confidence in the Pittsburgh Steelers has yet to be restored among the betting public. Once considered a perennial contender by the bookmakers, the Steelers are starting to slip into the second tier this offseason, their chances of even making the playoffs now in doubt with the sportsbooks.When speaking with Peter Watt of odds comparison website Oddschecker.com he confirmed to BTSC that the odds surrounding Pittsburgh had drifted constantly in most of the available markets since opening earlier in the year.As of Wednesday, the shortest price available online for the Steelers to win Super Bowl LIVwas 20/1, with some sportsbooks offering as high as 28/1. They can be backed at odds as high as 14/1 to win the AFC. And if Pittsburgh is to start the season in strong fashion on the road against the New England Patriots, they will reward backers heartily at a price of +225.Those who are optimistic that the Steelers will not only open the year with a win over the Patriots, but will continue to roll in the early stages of the season against all of their opponents, Pittsburgh can be backed at a price of 40/1 to be the last team unbeaten. Available at a best price of +200 to win the AFC North, the gap between Pittsburgh and theBrowns continues to grow and Cleveland is now as short as +125 to win their first division title since 1989.Where the favorite for the Steelers win total of nine was once significantly slanted towards the over, some sportsbooks now have the line priced up evenly at -110 for each side. Betting on Pittsburgh just making the playoffs lists “No” as the favorite at -121, as against “Yes” at +100.The only market that appears to have shortened at this stage in the offseason is the defensive rookie of the year betting where Devin Bush is now third favorite at 8/1 having previously been seventh in the betting at 18/1 with some sportsbooks. Third-round draft pick cornerback Justin Layne has also been priced up with some outlets at 50/1. Fans are always willing to overlook very real character flaws by their sports heroes. And this is why Antonio Brown’s ugly departure from the Steelers is really sad."It’s hard to think of many all-time Pittsburgh sports greats who left the city on uglier terms than Steelers receiver Antonio Brown did when he was traded to the Raiders.I won’t rehash the past few months, but you know the things the man did on his way out of town, things that were the very definition of burning your bridges. When it comes to all-time Pittsburgh sports heroes who left a permanent stain on their legacy, again, the list is small. The Penguins Jaromir Jagr might be one. You could make a case for Terry Bradshaw and his on-again, off-again feud with the Steelers and, by extension Roosevelt Nix Jersey , the fans who didn’t exactly appreciate the time it took the Blond Bomber to reach his full potential as a quarterback in the early-to-mid-70s. However, when it comes to Jagr and Bradshaw, I believe the sports fans of Pittsburgh have always been eager to forgive them—and they’ve actually tried several times.Society as a whole is usually pretty willing to forgive and forget--time even heals all wounds for most sports fans--but there’s one former Pittsburgh athlete—undoubtedly one of the greatest Pirates of all time—the fans have never truly been able to fully welcome back with open arms.I’m talking about Barry Bonds, one of the greatest players in the game of baseball for the majority of his seven years in Pittsburgh. Essentially, Bonds was the Andrew McCutchen of his day, but only better, winning the National League MVP award in 1990 and, again, in 1992 (it would have been three years straight, had the writers not decided to make it the “MVP To His Team” award when they voted for the Braves Terry Pendleton in 1991). Unfortunately, Bonds left as a free agent following the ‘92 season and spent the rest of his career in San Francisco, where he would not only go on to win five more NL MVP awards, he would set the single-season record for home runs in 2001 and finish his career as the all-time home run leader in Major League Baseball history. Despite the fact that Bonds spent the majority of his career with another team—and garnered even greater success in the process--his Pirates resume speaks for itself. Therefore, you may think the fans have always loved and celebrated him.Not even close. It’s as if Bonds never even played for the Pirates, and when you dare mention his name in the same breath as other Pirates legends—Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, etc. etc.—the fans, and even the media Coty Sensabaugh Jersey , often bristle.Oh, sure, some of that has to do with the PED scandal Bonds was embroiled in during the latter stages of his career (baseball fans are less forgiving of that kind of cheating than fans of other sports).But the main reason Pittsburgh sports fans have always hated Barry Bonds is because he was an absolute jerk.This is an indisputable fact. When local media members—people who have to work with athletes on a daily basis—openly show disdain for a player when he’s still in town, you know things are bad. We’re talking about a guy who didn’t get along with his teammates. He didn’t get along with the media. He didn’t seem to have much time for the fans (the stories of that are numerous). We’re talking about a guy whose college baseball teammates voted to kick him off the team. Barry Bonds was just a bad guy, and that was never in question—even the fans were aware of it while he was still in town.And that’s what’s so sad about everything that went down with Antonio Brown over the past few months. I obviously haven’t been bashful in bashing Brown since the end of the 2018 season. However, it wasn’t long ago that I thought he was simply the greatest football player on the planet. His clutch moments that included sideline catches and touchdowns at critical junctures are too numerous to list without starting another article. I would often find myself just Googling minutes-long highlights of Brown on YouTube—certainly not the most productive activity for a 40-something man to partake in on a regular basis. But the guy was simply poetry in motion. He was a Pittsburgh sports icon, and I love my sports heroes. By all accounts, Brown should have been embraced by the fans, and you know what? He was. And he had every right to be loved by Steelers faithful. He had every right to be on par with other all-time greats who made their living in Pittsburgh. Sure, there was Facebook Live. Sure, there were other unbecoming incidents, like the one in Miami last spring. Sure, there was Brown’s public spat with long-time beat writer Ed Bouchette last summer, where Brown confronted the veteran reporter and called him a racist for, of all things, Tweeting that the receiver limped off the field during training camp. There was even the well-publicized story written by Jesse Washington of The Undefeated, a story that portrayed Brown as a very bad character. Despite the story’s very lurid description of Brown, it was quickly glossed over—even after Brown took to social media to threaten physical harm upon Washington’s person. Even Bouchette went on record as saying he actually liked Brown Franco Harris Jersey , despite everything that went down between he and the receiver. Why? Maybe because he really was a guy that you wanted to like. Maybe it was because Bouchette knew Brown was a guy the fans wanted to like. Like I said earlier, how often do reporters openly trash athletes when they’re still in town? Furthermore, how often do they trash them even after they leave town? Not often, and why? Becausethey know the fans won’t put up with it—even if the reporters are right. Fans want to love their players. I can still see my uncle’s reaction as he said, “He’s incredible,” after Brown out-jumped three defenders to pull in a catchthat sealed a Week 1 victory against Cleveland in 2017. It wasn’t long ago fans were chanting “MVP!” as Brown was being helped off the field with a serious calf injury he suffered in a game against the Patriots at Heinz Field in Week 15 of the 2017 season. It seems like only yesterday I was jumping up and down and screaming “Go Antonio!” as Brown was racing for the end zone with the winning touchdown in a game against the Bengals last October at Paul Brown Stadium. Now, I have contempt for Brown. Now, I feel like it will be hard for me to forgive him, to ever welcome him back. Most other Steelers fans feel the same way, and why? Because Brown left town with a big, giant sneer on his face.I didn’t want it to end this way. To reiterate, as sports fans, we want to like our heroes—even in the face of a mountain of evidence that suggests we shouldn’t. We’re almost always willing to forgive and forget. Speaking of Brown’s sneer as he slammed the door on his way out of Pittsburgh, it’s like what Phil Hartman as Frank Sinatra told Sting as Billy Idol during that legendary SNL sketch, The Sinatra Group, “And what’s with that sneering crap? Don’t do that to the people. They wanna like you!” We really liked Antonio Brown at one time. Will we be able to ever again?