It is clear that wide receiver Antonio Brown did not leave the Pittsburgh Steelers on good terms, and among the reasons behind his decision to request a trade in 2019 centered on his sour relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Brown and Roethlisberger shined together over the past decade, as the veteran wideout set multiple Steelers records and was named to five All-Pro teams. But in the end, the two had apparent issues both on and off the field over the 2018 campaign that eventually played a role in the Steelers opting to trade Brown to the now Las Vegas Raiders.

For details on Aaron Rodgers' decision to stay with the Packers and the Seahawks trading Russell Wilson to Denver, listen below:

Brown took some time to clear the air with Ryan Clark on the former safety's “The Pivot Podcast”, where he reflected on his call to push for a trade following the Steelers’ 2018 campaign. The veteran wideout has opened up before on his Steelers departure, but this time around, he touched on what he noticed from the exit of a team legend.

“I was smart enough to know, okay I know at some point I seen Big Ben in the relationship with Hines Ward how that phased out,” Brown said. “I love Big Ben. I wouldn't be in the opportunity I've been in without Big Ben, but at some point as a player, you have to be smart for yourself and I got smart for myself and I said ‘you know what, I seen how the other older players at the Steelers went out, so how do I want to keep transitioning myself.'

“So matter of fact, I tell Mr. Rooney after the season like, ‘I don't want to be here no more.’ And he would agree like, ‘we'll let you go.'”

The Steelers parted ways with longtime wide receiver Hines Ward after the 2011 season. Even as he was much open to taking a pay cut, the front office still elected to release him. It is not known of any behind-the-scenes fallout that Ward had with Roethlisberger in the 2011 campaign, but Brown was indeed around for the former’s latter years in Pittsburgh.

Brown also looked back on his overall Steelers tenure. He opened up that there was a sense of togetherness with the Steelers during his rookie campaign, which was when the team orchestrated a run to Super Bowl 45. But after that, he noted that there was “always some friction.”

For one, Brown noticed a lack of unity within the Steelers heading into the 2012 season, which was months removed from the team's dramatic playoff elimination against quarterback Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. More so, the front office was facing a notable dilemma at the time with its wide receiver depth. The team aspired to come to terms with wideout Mike Wallace on a contract extension deal. Wallace held out of the Steelers' OTAs and minicamps over disagreements regarding his contract situation.

Amid this dilemma, the Steelers signed Brown to a five-year, $42.5 million extension deal. Brown further touched on the “little jealousy from the other guys” when a young talent like him signs such a deal. He felt that once he signed off on the agreement, the older players on the team expected a “certain level of humble from him.”

Years later, Clark provided his stance on this matter regarding Brown.

“Our thing was, now since you are the guy, now since you earned the money, fall in line and help the Troy Polamalus, the Ryan Clarks, the Ike Taylors,” Clark said. “Make sure this team is where it needs to be and so when we felt like that wasn't happening, that was the issue. … If you go at Lebeau, if you go at Ike, you go at Troy, you go at me.

“Mike T [Tomlin] told me, we're going to offer this to Mike Wallace and if Mike Wallace doesn't take it, we're gonna sign AB. At the time, this dude's coming off two years Pro Bowl. … I’ll be honest, I said it on TV, I said if y'all don't talk to him and tell him what that means at this age with the way he is, y'all are going to create a monster.”

Brown would go on to exceed expectations after he agreed to the multiyear extension deal, but as he touched on, there was always some sort of tension within the team.

In the big picture, the book is already closed in regard to Brown’s tenure in Pittsburgh, and while it included a multitude of memorable on-field moments, the off-field controversies did go on to stain his run with Roethlisberger and company.