You really have to wonder what current players and coaches think when one of their former teammates has something to say. Generally speaking, they have to be diplomatic when addressing it in public, but what are their private thoughts? That’s especially relevant with the Pittsburgh Steelers given that they have two Hall of Fame quarterbacks now in the media.
Terry Bradshaw, of course, has gotten involved before, having previously criticized Ben Roethlisberger. Perhaps most notable was when he called current head coach Mike Tomlin a cheerleader. But now it’s Roethlisberger dishing out his thoughts on the team in real time on nearly a weekly basis.
One of his latest observations pertained to rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. He offered a simple solution to Porter’s issues with drawing penalties: change his gloves. At least publicly, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was not interested in hearing that.
“I’m more focused on us playing clean and playing good football than trying to hide some other stuff”, he told reporters yesterday, via transcript provided by the team’s media department, when asked about Roethlisberger’s comments. “I didn’t see it, but that’s not what we are focused on”.
Porter wears prominent yellow (or gold) gloves to match the color scheme of the Steelers’ uniforms, of course, but not everybody else does. They help to make his hands stand out, and Roethlisberger contends that they make it easier for officials to call holds against him as a result.
“I feel like what he should do is he should put the same-colored gloves on as the opposing jersey”, Roethlisberger said during his Footbahlin podcast last week. “He wore those bright yellow gloves, and it just sticks out like a sore thumb”.
As Alex Kozora pointed out, Porter’s yellow gloves are not the norm on the roster. Patrick Peterson, for example, wore white gloves last week while playing against a visiting Cincinnati Bengals team that was obviously wearing white jerseys.
Now, changing the gloves might not be a bad idea, after all. And Austin might not even think it’s a bad idea, either. But if you’re coaching a young player who has been flagged 12 times as a rookie with eight accepted penalties against him, you don’t want him thinking the fix is simply a question of attire.
It’s been Porter’s one drawback from the very beginning. While he has made significant strides in his tackling, the volume with which he accrues penalties is a concern moving forward. It’s easy right now to live with them given the level of play you get out of him otherwise, but this is a very obvious target area for improvement.
All 12 of Porter’s penalties have come since taking over as a full-time starter. He has been flagged for defensive holding or pass interference at least once in seven of the past eight games, including a holding call last week on third down. And all because of those darn gloves.
