It seems as though the Pittsburgh Steelers have been busy churning out new fans lately—or, well, maybe nine months ago. Three members of the team just recently introduced new children into the family, in some cases over the course of the past few days.
The one that we already knew about was starting right tackle Marcus Gilbert, who introduced a new child into his life on Thursday and thus missed the Steelers’ preseason debut against the Philadelphia Eagles. He continued to be absent from practice yesterday.
Starting right outside linebacker Bud Dupree and defensive lineman L.T. Walton also witnessed the birth of new children into their lives. Dupree was previously missing time while dealing with a concussion that he was diagnosed with a week ago, but yesterday was excused for the birth of his child. It’s unclear if he has been cleared from the concussion protocol.
In Walton’s case, his child was actually born a few weeks ago, just before the start of training camp, but hey, what’s the sense in not including the new addition, right? The Steelers’ official Twitter account posted a collage of all three of the newborns on their page yesterday to welcome them into the family.
The newest members of the family.
Congratulations guys! 👏 pic.twitter.com/1pd9lV5W9o
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 11, 2018
And that is what the Steelers are all about, after all, isn’t it? We always hear about how much of a family the organization is and how it differs in that respect from other team around the league. The most poignant testimonials speaking to this topic tend to come from those players who actually worked on other teams, especially in minor roles, such as Alejandro Villanueva.
You can bet that the Steelers, literally a family-run organization headed by its third generation, will be providing their players with newborns the time off that they need to get acclimated to their new reality, because those in charge know exactly what it’s like.
Owner Art Rooney II in fact literally has his son at work along with him. Daniel Martin Rooney is a member of the coaching staff at the moment. Head Coach Mike Tomlin has children as well and has always openly talked about being a father (and making dad jokes to embarrass them).
Some people value family more or less than others, sure, but I would think—or at least hope—that all can at least empathize with the major life event that Gilbert and Dupree are undergoing. Basically what I’m saying that now is not the time to comment on them missing practice or whether or not they have to do better on the field for their professional life.
