Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has quite a few thoughts on his time in the Black and Gold, and some key players from his tenure in the Steel City, that much is very clear.
He never got behind Ben Roethlisberger’s leadership style, blasting him multiple times in recent years. He also pushed back against fans bashing him for losing Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers with a key fumble late.
And during a recent appearance on the “Raw Room” podcast, the former Steelers running back made one pointed comment about the Steelers’ locker room that is quite concerning — and honestly checks out. It has to do with social media.
On the “Raw Room” Mendenhall stated he felt a change in the locker room after the 2010 Super Bowl, which was right around the time that Twitter became popular, setting off what it has eventually turned into. That change occurred as the team started to let outside noise seep in, rather than keeping up a protective wall against it like the Steelers had done late in the decade when they were most successful.
“What I felt like, I can speak about this from my own vantage point in my career. I always felt like 2010, before Twitter, for us as a team, it always felt like what was outside was outside. It always felt like ‘alright, we going to war, we going to battle!'” Mendenhall said of the locker room before the 2010s, according to video via the Raw Room YouTube page. “When it came to like 2010 after the Super Bowl, the shit that was outside was getting inside.
“It was like seeping in the wall like fucking asbestos. And I was like ‘Wait, we letting this shit in? We not going to let nobody do nothing about this?'”
Though Mendenhall has had some off-the-wall comments about the Steelers and certain players in his post-playing days, the comment on the “Raw Room” about social media seeping into the Steelers’ locker room is pretty spot-on. It led to the team losing focus quite a bit, becoming more me-first and not about winning and the team overall.
Since the start of the 2010s, it’s felt a bit like a soap opera with the Steelers. That said, that’s not out of the norm around the league. The social media age has made things more open and accessible when it comes to player engagement. Fans are a keyboard away from saying something to players, and players can more easily see everything said about them by fans and the media.
Though many say they tune that stuff out and don’t pay attention, they all hear it.
That was the case with the Steelers’ locker room. It still might be.
What was once an impenetrable wall to block out the outside noise has become more of a pasta strainer. Stuff filters through freely. Players hear and see all, and it can affect them positively or negatively. Everyone has a brand now, too. It’s a me-first age, right or wrong.
And that started in 2010 as Twitter became popular. From there, the Steelers had the Young Money Crew at wide receiver that ultimately fell apart, causing some dissension for guys on the way out the door. There was the Le’Veon Bell situation, Antonio Brown’s meltdown, Martavis Bryant tweeting about JuJu Smith-Schuster not being his replacement and more.Â
Former tight end and Pittsburgh-area native Jesse James summarized it best on his way out of town, calling the Steelers the Kardashians.Â
Drama follows. It’s following this year with George Pickens’ sideline antics and demeanor when he’s not producing. It got loud on Tuesday with head coach Mike Tomlin’s comments about it being a non-issue.Â
That’s just the time that society is in today. But that doesn’t make Mendenhall wrong. The Steelers of that era went from being all about winning to some players starting to feel themselves and their popularity, and it derailed.
What a shame.
