Say what you will about Mike Tomlin the football coach. But Mike Tomlin the human is a pretty solid dude. As shared by Rotowire’s Brandon Kravitz Monday night, Tomlin evidently took a phone call from the sick mother of one of the media members in Orlando for this week’s 2024 Owners Meetings.
You can listen to a portion of the conversation between Tomlin and the mom below.
“I wish you nothing but the best,” Tomlin said. “Fight that fight, get out of that hospital. And just know, you’ve got a son that loves you. We’re in a cool setting and we had the opportunity to talk about you. And I just wanted to get you on the phone and wish you the absolute best.”
It’s not fully clear who the media member is, though for a brief moment in the clip, the camera captures another media member standing next to Tomlin. His lanyard shows the name Eric Wilson, who has worked for multiple outlets and currently hosts The Sports Arena show.
Regardless, it’s a classy gesture from Mike Tomlin. And not the first time he’s spoken to someone’s mom on the phone. Given the fact the Steelers hold their rookie minicamp two weekends after every draft, their three-day session normally wraps up on Mother’s Day. That’s allowed Tomlin several chances to call mom’s to say their son just went from a camp invite to earning a contract and spot on the 90-man roster. Such was the story with WR Marcus Tucker years ago. Tucker recounted the story to MLive.com in 2016.
“‘Hey this is Mike Tomlin the head coach of the Steelers,’ then instantly my mom started crying and saying, ‘Oh, my God!’ And then he said, ‘I just wanted to tell you Happy Mother’s Day and I also wanted to tell you that you’ve raised a fine young man and we want to give him a chance to make this football team, so we’re going to sign him to our 90-man roster.’”
Tucker never appeared in a regular season game but stuck on the team’s roster for two seasons before moving onto the CFL. He now serves as the head football coach of a high school in his home state of Michigan.
Though Tomlin has his prickly moments with the media, he’s receptive to them in many less-seen ways. For years, though it’s unclear if he did so in 2023, Tomlin would hold a weekly call with the opponent’s media members, a tradition most coaches stopped years ago. And moments like these only reveal what Tomlin is like when given the chance to take a step away from the urgency of winning a football game. A great moment to share.
