The comments are rather damning regarding the culture within the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organization right now, and they continue to roll in.
After star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick put his team on blast following the embarrassing Thursday night loss to the New England Patriots in Week 14, regarding the attitude, work ethic and overall preparation and understanding of what it means to be a Steeler, former Steelers such as safety Ryan Clark and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger piled on in recent days.
Clark appeared on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show Monday and said that nobody — outside of Fitzpatrick, Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt — in the Steelers’ locker room truly cares and respects the Steeler Way. Roethlisberger stated Monday night on his “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast that he feels like the that Steeler Way has been lost on the current team.
Former cornerback Ike Taylor joined in on that discussion with his own comments Tuesday morning on the 102.5 WDVE Morning Show with Randy Baumann. He said the young players on the team have to want to care about what it means to be a Steeler.
“These young dudes gotta understand, man, what it is to put that Black and Gold on, man. It hurt me being up there, when I was up there working, like, man, it hurt me being up there and just losing and just seeing how we losing. Like, I see it on TV, but just seeing it live in person, man, it hurt me man” Taylor said on the DVE Morning Show, according to audio via the show’s podcast page. “They gotta want to care. They gotta want to care what it is to be a Pittsburgh Steeler because they already got a cool coach. You got a smart, cool coach.”
Taylor’s comment aligns with those from Fitzpatrick, Clark and Roethlisberger in recent days. There’s just an expectation that guys are going to make plays and win games because they are the Steelers, and that there has become more of a me-first attitude that has worked its way into the locker room.
Granted, that’s how society is today. Young players are like that coming into the NFL, especially in the day of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in college where players are their own brand. They identify more with themselves than as a part of a team mentality.
In the past, that was never a problem for the Steelers. That’s where the Steeler Way comes from. That means caring for teammates, putting in the work, going the extra mile, upholding the standard that has been set before them. That feels lost right now, which leads to a greater discussion about the culture for Pittsburgh moving forward under head coach Mike Tomlin.
“These dudes gotta want to care. And not about theyself. They gotta want to care about they other teammates,” Taylor added, according to audio via the DVE podcast page. “They gotta want to care about their teammates ’cause I’m gonna care about me. But I cared more about Troy [Polamalu]. I cared more about Casey Hampton, Joey Porter, Ryan Clark, Bryant McFadden, Deshea Townsend and Willie Gay, Larry Foote, Aaron [Smith], [Brett] Keisel.
“I cared about them dudes and not letting them down more than myself. So when you have that mindset…but that’s a part of being a Steeler. Like, we didn’t take pay cuts. We just didn’t want to leave each other. It’s a reason why the team like stayed together for so long.”
Times have changed, both on and off the field. Social media is massive now, and that’s more about establishing and maintaining a brand for players more than anything else. They are a business in and of themselves, able to make money off of their name in a short window. It’s hard to blame the players for taking advantage of that opportunity, but there needs to be a team-first mentality, too.
It feels like the Steelers have lost that based on some of the players they’ve brought onto the team in recent years. There is too much attitude, not enough production to match those attitudes and egos.
The Steelers are in a transition period, and maybe the Steeler Way has been lost on this team. It’s up to the veterans who have been there, done that, to re-establish it.
