Now that the picture of Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey and his twin brother, Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey, has surfaced of them both wearing hats that read “Free Hernandez” during their Saturday night birthday party, a good portion of the fan base is up in arms about it and several even think the organization should part ways with the fourth-year player.
While I for one am not thrilled with their choice of attire, it is not grounds for either player to be released.
One of the commenters stated in the original post that the twins are considered gangsters in Florida and that their tattoos include gang signs, and that is a good reason to cut them.
What? If the Steelers, or any other organization for that matter, released players merely because of questionable tattoos that they have on their bodies, there would be a lot of players out of work come Monday. The same goes for questionable t-shirt slogans and remarks made on Twitter.
Maurkice has certainly had his share of immature moments over the years, mostly on Twitter, but as far as I can tell he hasn\’t committed any crime since being drafted. In fact, almost all the things that he has had to say this offseason have been spot on, and it is evident that he is taking on more of a leadership role on the team heading into 2013.
While the Pouncey twins recently have had their names surface in a story about the possible involvement of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in a 2007 shooting down in Florida, neither are suspected to be involved directly with the crime. The two might be questioned about being with Hernandez in a club earlier that night, but that\’s where it will likely end.
If I were the Pouncey\’s, I wouldn\’t have worn those hats as I would be trying to distance myself from Hernandez as much as I could. However, as damning as the evidence is against Hernandez, he has only been charged with a crime, and his day in court is still several months away. It is a known fact that the twins are friends with Hernandez, so their support for him is not overly surprising.
Is the Rooney family happy about the picture surfacing? Probably not, but at least Maurkice isn\’t behind bars right now as it appears that the birthday party went off without any incidents. In this day and age, that should be a reason to celebrate.
Neither Maurkice nor Mike will be released for wearing hats that support a person charged with murder, and it is foolish to think that they should be. Are they guilty of bad judgment? Perhaps, but we all are guilty of that from time to time.
If this is the worst thing that has taken place this offseason with the Steelers, it should be viewed as one of the greatest offseasons in recent memory.
