2018 Steelers Thread

[columbia]

[slappybrown]

I know Cowherd isn't super popular in this group, but he was going full bore on this today. According to him, this is now the seventh time Ben has thrown coaches under the bus in the media. The rumor is that it is not just Haley that Ben is kind of over. Tomlin is the most vulnerable he's ever been after that JAX game, and Ben is standing on his neck.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Ben's personal sentiment echoed what DeCastro publically said after the game. Tomlin does absolutely nothing to control his players (or in Porter's case his assistant coaches) and this team has had many lost seasons because of nonsense.

I actually think this is more plausible than I thought before. I think Ben's one of the last few that has seen how a team operates under Cowher vs. Tomlin - and there's no denying that Tomlin's group has become incredibly lax when it comes to the media hype and stuff. I think there's a contingent that wants to feel less like a buddy and more like an employer. In that regard, all teams should be aiming for the Patriots and now Jaguar led front office with Coughlin.

I find the Steelers get by on skill a lot of the time, but then when they can't, they get smoked. Which causes Tomlin to become defensive of his calls. On-side kick, clock management, etc. That stuff when taken serious decides games - and I think Tomlin assumes it's someone elses problem when they lose.

I think the culture stuff is a bit overblown. Ben is 36 and is married and has kids. Cowher told him not to ride a motorcycle when he was 25, he ignored him, and then nearly killed himself riding without a helmet. Antonio Brown recording Tomlin on Facebook Live looks like small potatoes in comparison. I think its more just Ben getting old and no longer really having a relationship with any on the team. That weird ESPN article on him from this year that talks about how he's a ghost at the facility and has some hidden locker behind his locker was strange as hell, but gives you an idea of the detachment between Ben and the rest of the team.

I also don't buy the notion that Tomlin is vulnerable at all. He's never even had a losing season and they've won 10 or more games 4 years straight. Ben could be gone in a year (or two or three) and while they're clearly (rightfully, IMO) indulging him with Haley/Fichter to entice him to stick around, there's no chance in hell the Rooney's would can him because drama Ben is being drama Ben. More likely the Rooneys go to Tomlin directly and say tighten things up in the room, its too lax, and Tomlin will do just that.

[slappybrown]

Also -- guys, GTFO of here with Coughlin. Jalen Ramsey is the #1 sht-talker in the whole damn league.

[Troy Loney]

Seems like Ben is not a locker room leader type. Wasn't he supposed to have been a huge ass in the locker room at the start of his career?

The dude just never seemed to embrace the other aspects of the team and leadership.

[slappybrown]

I went back and found what I was thinking of:

Multiple Super Bowl rings and a decade and a half in this town will buy you two lockers in Pittsburgh, and Roethlisberger's are nestled in the far corner amid a sea of rookies; his first, flush against one wall, his second, perpendicular to it on the other wall. At first blush, his first locker, light brown, littered with roughly eight pairs of assorted black and yellow and white cleats, appears fairly typical. But upon further inspection, the right wall of that locker is, in fact, a door. And on that door, hangs a hook. Resting on that hook is a black string. And when you pull that string, it swings the door open, like a portal that delivers would-be snoops to Roethlisberger's own private Narnia: a few square feet between the banks of lockers and the wall that serves as his quiet refuge from the locker room bustle. Conner, the Steelers' first-year running back, was the only person in the room one day, free from prying eyes and protective veterans, so all he needed was to quickly tug that string and all would be laid bare: the space that's only Roethlisberger's to know. Only Conner lost his nerve.

"I was gonna open it up," he says. "But I got too scared. Everybody knows not to go back there. It's top secret."

T.J. Watt is pretty sure there's a refrigerator in Roethlisberger's hidden enclave, maybe some speakers because he has heard music a time or two. JuJu Smith-Schuster didn't even know there was a room there until a month into this season, when he saw Roethlisberger emerge, phantom-like, from behind his locker. "Yo, where'd he come from?" he said to himself.

[meow]

who cares? maybe he likes to pop one off before games. gotta give the guy some privacy

[dodint]

JJ Watt also has his own little area with a bed in it where the Texans play.

[slappybrown]

who cares? maybe he likes to pop one off before games. gotta give the guy some privacy

[Troy Loney]

I think the issue is that he's complaining about the culture of the team.

[slappybrown]

Yes, its less the notion of senior members of a team getting little perks, but the article that excerpt comes from paints a picture of a dude who is not at all integrated with his teammates. Which leads to Troy's post, and the notion that maybe Ben do something about "it", whatever "it" is.

[Troy Loney]

Yeah, seems like Ben's disinterest in being that kind of guy has left a leadership vacuum on the team. It also seems like Ben develops bad relationships with the coaches. I mean, if the star player has a confrontational relationship with the coaches, that's going to undermine their authority with the rest of the team.

[tifosi77]

Ben could be gone in a year (or two or three)....

Or he could also be gone in two or three months.

More likely the Rooneys go to Tomlin directly and say tighten things up in the room, its too lax, and Tomlin will do just that.

Actually, I do agree with this. The last time the Steelers fired a head coach, LBJ was president.

[slappybrown]

Ben could be gone in a year (or two or three)....

Or he could also be gone in two or three months.

More likely the Rooneys go to Tomlin directly and say tighten things up in the room, its too lax, and Tomlin will do just that.

Actually, I do agree with this. The last time the Steelers fired a head coach, LBJ was president.

On the first point, I am taking him at his word that he is playing next year which he said after the game on Sunday and reiterated on his show yesterday.

[Dickie Dunn]

Fichtner promoted to OC. Munchak officially staying.

[dodint]

Woooo!

[Tico Rick]

Fichtner promoted to OC. Munchak officially staying.

Big if true.

[slappybrown]

@columbia

I remembered to dig this up. Good stuff: old vistas of 3 Rivers from highway, Cope/Fleming on the call and Cope immediately calling it a TD, young wade phillips coaching D-line for daddy Bum and losing his sht in the booth, Bum's coat which is on point as a mfer, etc etc

http://youtu.be/SF6gWCNDolM

[columbia]

That was (and still is) a TD.

Also of note are the tiny shoulder pads on everyone and Bum Phillips’ suede/sheep wool jacket. Classic.

[slappybrown]

It's an awful call. The coat is the best

[columbia]

On the bright side, “Heaven Can Wait” (which I highly recommend) wouldn’t have been as good with the Oilers subbing for the Steelers.

[columbia]

That movie came out the the year before, so scrub that.

[LITT]

[meow]

@Shyster

Let me get a breakdown of this hat/outfit as a whole

[NTP66]

It's like putting a post-it note on top of a watermelon. His head is far too big for that thing.

[nocera]

When was the last time anyone looked good in a fedora?