On Tuesday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin received a new contract extension that will carry him through the 2016 season. Today, Wednesday, Tomlin will receive a team at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe that does not have many, if any ,real distractions attached it.
I shouldn\’t need to remind you of the 2009 and 2010 training camps where all of the talk during both of those camps centered around the sexual assault allegations and civil lawsuit against quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Just last year, as the players reported to camp following the lockout, it was linebacker James Harrison that had the media buzzing because he shared his true feelings about commissioner Roger Goodell, Roethlisberger and a few other things in an interview with Men\’s Journal magazine.
Outside of restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace possibly not being present when the team reports today, Tomlin has to be feeling good about the state of the team. Instead of any arrest or run-ins with the law this offseason, there were a slew of weddings as LaMarr Woodley, Larry Foote and Ramon Foster all tied the knot. There is the change at offensive coordinator that took place, but the whole Todd Haley versus Roethlisberger talk was put to rest very early on this offseason.
So what will the media have to ask Tomlin and the players about today? Wallace surely will be discussed, as will the new offense, but answers to both of those questions that anyone gives will be generic in nature and not highly scrutinized. At least we don\’t think they will need to be. Tomlin will be asked about his new extension and I expect he will have a witty Tomlinism-like response.
Unfortunately there will not be questions about a possible Super Bowl hangover, but the goal is to have those types of questions asked next year at this same time.
So what crafty name should we call the 2012 version of Steelers training camp? Camp No Distraction? Nah, how about let\’s call it what it should be called every year, Steelers Training Camp.
Welcome to the 2012 season of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
