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The Indianapolis Colts will host the Pittsburgh Steelers this Thanksgiving for a primetime matchup, and that means that, among other matchups, Pat McAfee will be punting to Antonio Brown.
Brown has yet to break off a punt return for a touchdown yet this year, but in his career he has proven to be dangerous: he has a career average of 9.8 yards per return and four touchdowns (one in four of the past five seasons). Just last year, he took a punt back 71 yards for a score against the Colts, so Indianapolis doesn’t need to be reminded of how dangerous he is.
But there’s another aspect of Brown’s return game that could scare punters: in a game a few years ago, Browns punter Spencer Lanning tried to tackle Brown and got kicked in the face instead. So Pat McAfee’s request to Brown this Thanksgiving is simple: don’t do that to me, please.
Hey @AntonioBrown.. it's gonna be Thanksgiving.. my mom's gonna be there.. once again, none of this.. please.. thanks in advance pic.twitter.com/cIKMFuI94a
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 22, 2016
Brown then joked that McAfee should employ a different strategy if he wants to make sure he’s not kicked in the face:
.@PatMcAfeeShow you should just kick it out of bounds brother !
— Antonio Brown (@AntonioBrown) November 22, 2016
Kidding, happy Thanksgiving Momma McAfee !
Hahaha, you're the man... Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours https://t.co/AUwR8mA9PU
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 22, 2016
It’s a funny exchange, and you can be sure of two things: 1) Antonio Brown will be a threat to take a punt back for a score this Thursday; and 2) Pat McAfee will try to tackle him if he breaks one. McAfee has some impressive hits to his name in his career, so it’s just as possible he’ll be on the highlight reel for that (just ask Trindon Holliday) as for getting kicked in the face. But just in case, McAfee’s taking to Twitter to be safe.