2019 NFL off-season thread

To be fair, social media alone gives the public much more access to the thoughts and personalities of star athletes than we had in the past.

It's not just about the team MVP. I think the larger issue is the relationship with Roethlisberger. This is still his team and apparently, he isn't shy about giving his teammates reminders of the pecking order on occasion. Also, Brown didn't even lead his team in receptions this season. Sure, he still had over 100, but Smith-Schuster had 111 receptions to Brown's 104. Never mind that Brown was targeted more. He was sixth in the league in targets with 168. Never mind that Roethlisberger still forces the ball to him in key situations, often leading to killer turnovers. Quite often this season, Roethlisberger attacked the single coverage on Smith-Schuster rather than the double team on Brown. That led to some talk of him being surpassed by Smith-Schuster, even if it was just the fans. The MVP vote just made the problem worse.

In other words, a combination of factors bruised Brown's ego. He can have the "fuck you" mentality all he wants, but the only way he's going to regain the stature he so desperately wants is by playing.

 

Back in the day Tatum, Blount and Lott would have shut them up repeatedly on Sundays.

 

By the rules of the 1970s, that is most likely true. Brown definitely would have had a tougher time against corners who could beat him up all over the field. He still would have been good, but he's perfect for today's less physical game. He's tough, but just not very big.

 

I think it's about 95% between he and 7 and 5% everything else.

Big Ben loves talking shit about his teammates to anyone who'll throw a mic in his face because he wants them to like him and forget the days of him playing grab ass with every skirt he came across.

Not sure how anyone expects Tomlin to curb that since 7 has made it pretty clear he's above reproach and is much more concerned about being a beloved Steeler with the media than anything else.

This isn't saying Antonio Brown isn't to blame somewhat, I'm sure he is. But I could also see why he'd hate that phony fuck spitting out team business in public as much as he does.

 

There is no quetion Roethlisberger is part of the problem in that locker room, but Brown is responsible for this particular mess. He threw a tantrum and skipped out on his team as they were trying to make the playoffs the final week of the season. Now he's trying to force a trade when he really has minimal leverage. Unless the Steelers can get significant value in a trade, the cap hit for trading him is so high that they really are no worse off benching his ass all season and fining him like crazy every time he's late or refuses to participate than they would be trading him. At his age, a lost season does a lot more damage to Brown than it does to the Steelers.

They have to draw a line on this, or it's basically turning over authority over the team to the players.

 

Once it's the player. But when a team has two of its stars act out as Bell and Brown have, it has to be at least partially responsible for a state of affairs that's bad for everybody involved.

 

Agreed, but to be fair, Bell's issue was entirely financial, though it affected the locker room. Brown's is a matter of the locker room bullshit.

Tomlin has allowed an atmosphere that seemed to foster selfishness and a lack of discipline for years. I think it cost the team a playoff run this past season and it is a big part of issue with Brown now.

It may be difficult to fix those problems as long as Roethlisberger is the quarterback. He always came off as a selfish doofus with a big mouth and a questionable attitude. Perhaps he really has matured, but the doofus is still there. He's not a good guy and sometimes that is reflected in his comments.

But, if the locker room is a mess, a large portion of the blame has to fall on the coach. I've been saying since the loss to the Raiders that it is time to move on from Tomlin and the issue with Brown just makes that more clear.

 

Tomlin doesn't allow an atmosphere that fosters selfishness. He expects grown ass men to act like professionals and do their job without needing him to walk behind them and wipe their ass.

Again the quarterback is above reproach, ownership has all but said that and treated him as such, the quarterback is the one that publicly throws teammates under the bus so local media will forget that he's raped women.

Quarterback whines that Bell won't return his text messages, probably because Bell thinks he's an asshole and can't stand him. Then the offensive linemen start whining about Bell and his contract when they all know that's a shitty thing for a player to do.

But again the face of the franchise does shitty stuff all the time. Has from the start and at this point there's no reason for him to stop since ownership kisses his feet. Change the coach a million times but #7 is the reason that locker room has fallen apart. Players run the locker room, not coaches.

 

There is no way any wide receiver who ever lived can win a power struggle with a quarterback, Without the QB, the wideout's just a guy running wind sprints out there. One reason the Pats have run through so many wideouts over the years is that Brady makes it very evident that when one loses his confidence, he just won't throw to him. Even someone as good as Moss. When Brady stopped looking his way, he was outta there.

 

Nice rant. Sadly, it ignores the fact that Tomlin has been letting Brown get away all sorts of crap for years. He has enabled Roethlisberger's crap, too.

I get that your hatred for Roethlisberger has you wanting to put all of it on him and none on Tomlin. Roethlisberger is a jackass. What you are missing is that the coach absolutely deserves a significant portion of the blame for the toxicity in that locker room.

 

I don't get the impression Brown is trying to win a power struggle with Roethlisberger. I think he'd rather just not be on the same team. He just wants to leave.

Coaches can lose a locker room's faith in him as a coach, I understand that part. But this Steelers thing seems different than that. I just think there's no leaders in there at all. You lose guys like Polamalu and Shazier and even that psychopath James Harrison and those sort of vocal locker room guys that can control the atmosphere and have the respect of their teammates out of fear if no other reason. And I do agree with nafselon that Roethlisberger's bullshit goes above Tomlin. The Rooneys see him as a Steelers institution. He's a made man. Now Tomlin could have obviously cut the crap with guys talking about Bell's situation and whatever Brown did or didn't do (no one knows). But he can't stop Big Ben from motherfucking his teammates on a live mic because Ben doesn't care.

I like Mike Tomlin. For his sake I hope next year is his last with the Steelers.

 

Surprised the Steelers are so invested in Roethlisberger. He's closer to the end and has already threatened retirement. Trade him to the Redskins for a number 1 and move on.