Patrick Peterson spent just one season in Pittsburgh. While he hopes to get another, his year with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers left a clear impact even on a veteran and future Hall of Famer. Appearing on the Rich Eisen Show Monday, Peterson relayed his favorite story of Tomlin from 2023, one that took place just as the season was starting.
“It was probably the first rainy day in training camp,” Peterson told Eisen. “This is my first year in Pittsburgh. I hear all the clichés about, ‘it don’t matter what the weather is.’ The only time we’re coming inside is if it’s thunder and lightning. So I’m like, ‘God Dog man, the sky’s about to fall.’ So we still got practice.”
A camp staple as much as Friday Night Lights and backs on ‘backers drills, there’s at least one hellacious rain day during Latrobe. A humid summer in the middle of PA is ripe for a shower or two. Last year’s came early, a downpour mid-way through the third day of camp. But true to what Peterson heard, practice didn’t stop or move to the gym. It carried on, a point Tomlin made sure to emphasize with the group.
“Coach calls us up. Says, ‘hey man, I just want to get in front of this right now. Yeah, we got bad weather. But there’s going to be some point in time this season on Sunday when we’ve got bad weather. And if you’re not prepared for it, how are you supposed to succeed in it?
“I was like, ‘damn, I never thought about that.’ You always think about how you want to have the ideal weather in training camp. Some head coaches might be like, we’re not going out there today…not Coach T. We’re going to get this work in. We’re going to prepare ourselves.”
Mike Tomlin embraces the elements as much as any coach in football, maybe the only man in Latrobe happy to see dark clouds roll into St. Vincent College. But it offers a chance to focus on battling Mother Nature and not just the opposition. Ball security, securing footing, catching and throwing passes, kicking and punting, and tackling are all impacted in adverse weather. It’s why teams who don’t get bad weather sometimes simulate rain by hosing down footballs. For Pittsburgh, the forecast usually “helps” them out at some point during camp.
Pittsburgh went on to play several rain games in 2023 and generally did well. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2 against a lighter rain but dreary conditions, putting up 400-plus yards of offense for the first time since 2020. The Steelers struggled in an upset loss to Arizona, a contest headlined by two rain delays, but Pittsburgh battled back to win a slop-fest in the season finale against the Baltimore Ravens, helping punch their ticket to the playoffs.
“I had the opportunity to learn so much from [Mike Tomlin]…he is definitely a Hall of Fame head coach and one of the best ever to do it,” Peterson said.
As much as Peterson hated the rain at the moment, it was a quick lesson for a man who has spent most of his career in Arizona and a season in a domed Minnesota venue. Still a free agent, Peterson would gladly trade wringing out his socks for the chance to be a Steeler again.
