Hysteria over Steelers’ season a bit over the top
Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy out there.
The hysteria over the end of the Steelers鈥� season is a bit over the top, wouldn鈥檛 you say?
I don鈥檛 need to cite examples. Google your own. Try 鈥淪teelers embarrassed鈥� and I鈥檓 sure a lush list of the latest entries will rush to the top of the page.
Frankly, I don鈥檛 get it. Neither should you, because this is all about one player who embarrassed himself by quitting on his team during what the coach described as 鈥渙ur darkest hour.鈥�
That鈥檚 when quitters usually reveal themselves anyway.
In this case, Antonio Brown, considered by many the greatest receiver in football, quit on the Steelers.
And we鈥檙e all supposed to feel embarrassed?
Sure, you can say the coach is ensnared in this and thus make it an even bigger deal about enabling culture. And why not? Mike Tomlin has been blamed for everything else that went into a 9-6-1 season which ended about seven yards short in Baltimore, or at the Denver 2, or with the faux offsides that nullified a blocked Chargers field goal, or when the kicker fell on his ass in Oakland, or with a fumble at the New Orleans 35, or wherever the Steelers鈥� playoff dream died by the narrowest of margins to finish 鈥� wait, 9-6-1? Is that right? Because the experts out there are making me feel a lot more like it was 2-14.
You鈥檙e that embarrassed?
Really?
I guess if you want to bring Tomlin into this and make him your buffoon one more time, you might believe you should feel that way. Or Kevin Colbert. I鈥檝e even seen hysterical potshots being taken at Art Rooney II because of this losing-at-ball moment.
Of course it鈥檚 hysteria. I don鈥檛 know how else to explain it when there鈥檚 really only one person who should feel embarrassed today and that鈥檚 Antonio Brown.
It goes that Tomlin enabled Brown, as if he was the father who enabled young Antonio to live in his car as a teen because he had to bail on his child to go prove himself in the Arena league.
Yeah, Brown鈥檚 father, Eddie Brown, was voted the greatest Arena player of all time, and so I鈥檓 presuming he had to have the ball, too.
It runs in the family, I guess, because young A.B. has to have the ball and that鈥檚 why he ended up under-recruited at Central Michigan, and then under-drafted in Pittsburgh.
The scouts say 鈥� at least these days 鈥� that A.B. showed these team-wrecking tendencies in college and therefore lasted until the sixth round because of them.
Ironic that the sixth-round pick the Steelers used to draft Brown in 2010 came to them indirectly by trading Santonio Holmes for a fifth-round pick after Holmes tweeted that he was stoned.
Not very immaculate, but it鈥檚 proof that the Steelers have a history of abruptly washing themselves of poor team players.
However, this one鈥檚 different. They paid A.B., even after they should鈥檝e been warned. At least that鈥檚 what Ryan Clark says. He claimed A.B. was a Frankenstein monster in the making if he got the money, and it鈥檚 turning out that Clark was right.
In fact, Brown is being paid so much money that the cost of dumping him is too prohibitive. The Steelers would gain little more than $1 million in cap money by playing without him. Or, in other words, the Steelers would鈥檝e just set fire to the $21 million that they鈥檝e already paid Brown.
Just about the only move that could save the Steelers is a trade of Brown for another disgruntled superstar from a team that鈥檚 left holding their own salary cap bag. So I recommend they look into Arizona cornerback Patrick Peterson right away.
Can you imagine the embarrassment you might feel should the Steelers add a legitimate shutdown cornerback to a defense that鈥檚 crying out for help?
Yeah, that鈥檚 the defense with which everyone seems to feel a Super Bowl should鈥檝e been won. It鈥檚 actually a defense that 鈥� when it settled on journeymen castoffs Joe Haden, Coty Sensabaugh and Mike Hilton at cornerback 鈥� got better and beat Tom Brady and should鈥檝e beaten Drew Brees. It鈥檚 a defense that lacked the talent but apparently had the coaching to finally 鈥� FINALLY! 鈥� play big-league ball against master chess players.
I can鈥檛 remember the last time that鈥檚 happened, and perhaps that鈥檚 why the fan base is so engulfed in anger over a missed opportunity. And it鈥檚 actually defensive coaching that raised the level!
Now I鈥檓 just teasing you, but there鈥檚 some basis of truth there. The bigger truth is that an acquisition of a legit shutdown corner changes the calculus of the entire team, and in a good, balanced way.
Sure, Ben Roethlisberger would have to work harder. They would even need to draft a speedball type in the top three rounds 鈥� again 鈥� to 鈥渢ake the top off of defenses鈥� and allow JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington to play the intermediate game that better suits their skill sets.
But the defense, yoi, two quality corners, maybe draft another one and add to the experience being gained by the novice safeties, buy a linebacker in free agency, and 鈥� voila! 鈥� instant defense, instant coverage that would allow a talented front 鈥� that鈥檚 already proven it can get to the quarterback 鈥� even more time to get there.
Now we鈥檙e talking about a real team, right? And the offense would have every logical reason to get back to the running game, too.
Sounds fantastic, right?
But, alas, who would want the broken athletic genius who was nuts from the start and has progressed to completely off the rails this season?
Maybe the Bidwill family could be tricked into adding an exciting playmaker for their young quarterback and seemingly ever-shrinking fan base, but along with the bonus money with which Brown has scorched the Steelers, he鈥檚 set to make $22 million this season. The Bidwills might easily be fooled by shiny baubles but they also have a reputation for throwing around nickels like manhole covers.
It鈥檚 possible 鈥� no, probable 鈥� that Brown returns to the Steelers for another season, until the ability to escape the heavy cap hit makes trading him a realistic option. Until then we have to watch this nutjob carouse the internet with his brand of social media justice.
Tomlin of course remained consistent with his feelings yesterday that social media isn鈥檛 an actual reality. I鈥檓 not sure that鈥檚 true, but I love to fantasize that it is.
The better part of Tomlin鈥檚 press conference Wednesday, though, was that he called the Brown situation 鈥渟ignificant.鈥� I worried that he might try to do the organization 鈥� which appears to be hamstrung by Brown 鈥� a solid by heading up an effort to sweep this under the rug.
No chance of that now. And before Tomlin sorts through all of the options and realizes he has to either release Brown (and give Brady reason to return for one more try with his fading team) or keep him and put up with his insufferable attitude for another season, Tomlin needs to talk to a key veteran or two.
Tomlin said 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care where good ideas come from鈥� Wednesday, and he already got a head start when Roethlisberger publicly stated that he would welcome Brown back with open arms.
That鈥檚 one veteran. But if I were in Tomlin鈥檚 shoes, I would want to talk to Heyward.
I often post up at Heyward鈥檚 post-game locker and watch him deal with the ups and downs of a season and wonder if this is exactly how Joe Greene did it. Heyward talks about getting back to work after a win, and he talks about getting back to work after a loss. He, in my opinion, is the best leader on a team that has many.
Go ahead and count them off: Haden, Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Vance McDonald, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Stephon Tuitt. I hesitate to list Roethlisberger only because y鈥檃ll are telling me that I鈥檝e been fooled by his leadership this season. I鈥檝e listened to his radio shows and found no problems with some of his teammates being cast in a bad light as he talks ball. It doesn鈥檛 sound as bad as it looks in print, and I maintain his critics are just part of the gotcha, whore-click culture that comes with the social media unreality. Maybe I鈥檓 in the wrong, but my opinion is that Roethlisberger has developed into a solid leader.
But the larger point is there are several level-headed, hard-working, team-loving veterans who make the Steelers locker room more indestructible than anyone bitten by the hysteria bug will ever admit.
And Heyward, by my instincts, sits at the top of any consultation list.
Maybe he says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 OK. Bring him back. A.B.鈥檚 not as difficult to work with as you think.鈥� And that would be cool by me.
We鈥檝e all encountered nutjobs in our athletic pasts. I coached one once. He was the best pitcher in the league, but he routinely blew us off. I finally stopped trying to be Billy Martin, or someone who would feel embarrassed by something out of his control, and took a team vote.
Play the kid, my players demanded by a 13-1 vote. I played him and we went on to win the championship.
That鈥檚 pretty much where I would put this now, on the players, or more specifically, the defensive captain, the Joe Greene of this current locker room. If he says yay, then I鈥檓 all in.
I might feel embarrassed covering a team with A.B. in the locker room, but I certainly don鈥檛 feel embarrassed now. It鈥檚 just ball. Take it easy out there.