Vontaze Burfict wanted to ‘kill me, steal my dreams,’ Antonio Brown says

Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict lowered a shoulder into the helmet of Steelers wideout Antonio Brown in the wild-card round of the AFC playoffs, knocking him out of the next round with a concussion. But according to Brown, Burfict had even worse intentions.

“I feel like they wanted to take me out, kill me, steal my dreams,” Brown told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “End me. I’m not going to let them. We’re going to win more.

“When you hit a guy after the play, a defenseless guy in the helmet, there are a lot of things that aren’t right about that.”

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Brown said he “didn’t have a chance” to play against the Super Bowl-bound Broncos in the divisional round. His absence from the game prompted Bengals defensive back Adam Jones to apologize for saying Brown faked his injury.

“The guy (Jones) texted me,” Brown said. “No reply. I don’t even know why people give him the platform. Ridiculous.”

Brown said he was cleared by doctors the following week, leaving him with only questions as to how far the Steelers could have gone with him in pads.

“I wish I could have been out there with my teammates,” he said. “I’m living with regrets that we could have been in the Super Bowl.”