LATROBE, Pa. -- Antonio Brown serves NFL fandom like an Uber driver.
Press the button and he arrives.
Any time a fan yells "AB, we love you" at training camp, the Pittsburgh Steelers star receiver smiles or winks or stretches out his arms to the crowd -- sometimes all three at once. Applause promptly follows.
Ask Brown "How's business?" and he'll blurt back "boomin'!" with the timing of a deep corner route.
Brown will engage the crowd in the middle of practice, in between drills, whenever. Somehow, a few fans slid underneath the ropes and onto the sideline mid-practice for a quick Brown picture. Brown gladly obliged until attendants moved them out.
No need to hold out when he's having this much fun.
"I love camp, man," Brown said. "You get a chance to interact with the fans. I hear them say my name. And I get to compete against guys."
After 12 seasons and two Super Bowls, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is probably the Steelers' biggest name on a national level. But the most famous Steeler in Latrobe is undoubtedly Brown. Just about every third replica jersey at Chuck Noll Field these days is a No. 84. Brown ranked No. 19 in the NFLPA's recent list of the top-selling jerseys in the NFL, the highest on the Steelers.
Watching Brown at St. Vincent College is its own experience. There's the football product and Brown as a separate entity, in part because he feeds the crowd, and the crowd stays hungry.
Every one of Brown's big plays ends with an arm motion to the crowd or a loud, arbitrary message such as, "What are they going to say now?" as if Brown is motivating himself. His latest go-to touchdown move is a fadeaway jump shot, flinging the ball between the uprights.
To teammates, Brown is being himself.
"AB is genuine," linebacker Arthur Moats said. "When he's able to interact with them like he does at camp, it's his way of showing his appreciation."
Brown is unquestionably Hollywood. How many Steelers walk to practice with a personal photographer? Certainly not second-string linebackers. But there's Brown every day; he's one of the last onto the field and is accompanied by a young man with a leopard-print backpack named Theo Smith. Brown met Smith in Miami and added him to his staff as an assistant.
Smith and personal chef Niko are part of Brown's team on the scene. When Brown's Steelers-inspired Rolls-Royce Wraith or a black Mercedes-Benz truck pulls up to St. Vincent, one of these two are probably in the car.
Quarterbacks can get 15 to 20 years in the league, but the star turn of an NFL playmaker can be short. Brown, 28, is capitalizing on the window.
After a recent practice, Brown was seen signing one of his own products: black-and-white athletic sandals with an "AB 84" logo on the side. Those sandals aren't currently available on Brown's website, but Brown-inspired women's leggings can be all yours for $24.99, along with a phone case for $19.99. The white "Business is Boomin'" T-shirt is sold out.
"Not everyone can do that, so why not [capitalize]?" wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey said about Brown's appeal to the fans. "He's highly marketable."
Brown has stayed relatively low key with the media this camp. On July 31, Brown addressed several questions about his contract situation. Brown, who has two years left on a six-year, $43 million contract, says he has outplayed his $6.25 million salary for this year after recording an NFL-record 265 catches over a two-year span (2014-15).
Brown talked with a serious tone during his post-practice news conference that day -- until he was asked about camp. That's when the smile crept back out, as if he's genuinely happy to be here.
"I'm going to always show up and do my part," Brown said. "This is the beginning of the journey. It's great coming out to Latrobe and seeing all our fans and put our work on display."