The Lion King and the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t a common comparison — maybe that comparison has never been made at all. But for former Steelers safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, that’s the one he made Wednesday morning on ESPN’s Get Up.
In a discussion regarding the potential of 41-year-old quarterback and four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers signing with the Steelers for his 21st NFL season, Clark stated that he believes it could be a “garbage” season for the Steelers as Rodgers isn’t a fit with their culture and personality.
“I think that Mike Tomlin can work with anybody. I think that the personality of Mike Tomlin is to find the best in any situation in order to help his team reach its fullest potential. But let’s say you put Scar on the team, you know, Scar from the Mufasa movies and Lion King, right? Yeah. Here it is. Mufasa is trying to be Scar’s brother. Right? Do you know what Scar’s name was before Scar? It was Taka. Do you know what Taka meant? Garbage, wasted,” Clark said regarding the potential of Rodgers joining the Steelers, according to video via the show’s Twitter page. “That’s exactly what could happen.
“If you bring Aaron Rodgers in there, you can have a wasted season, you can have a garbage season, you can have a locker room that has to adjust to not only Aaron Rodgers, but Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers trying to figure out who’s going to win the battle of what they want the offense to be.”
Not only would Rodgers bring a great deal of headaches and headlines due to the media attention he commands and the things he says publicly that riles people up, he would also be a stylistic clash with the Steelers and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Smith reportedly clashed with the last Steelers starting quarterback in Russell Wilson, who was another big name with a huge following.
Their play styles clashed, and that could be the case again in Pittsburgh with Smith and potentially Rodgers, should he be the Steelers’ next starting QB. For Clark, that’s a real concern. It’s not just about the clashing of styles between the QB and the offensive coordinator, it has to do with the personalities of the two receivers the Steelers have as well. That makes the Steelers’ offense a theoretical powder keg if the move is made.
“We know what Arthur Smith wants. He wants to run the football, he wants to get into play-action pass. That’s not the way Aaron Rodgers likes to play football. So it isn’t about the personality of Mike Tomlin mixing with anybody, ’cause he can coach anybody, relate to anybody. He can motivate anyone. But does it work with the X’s and O’s?” Clark questioned. “And when the X’s and O’s don’t work and Omar Khan, the general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers says, ‘Okay, this piece isn’t working,’ do we have to start it all over again in Pittsburgh and find a new quarterback?
“It looks great that you got DK Metcalf and George Pickens out there, but you got two crash-outs [at wide receiver]. So you going to have two crash-outs at wide receiver and then add the quiet crash-out at quarterback? Hell no. This is not something that I feel in my soul and someone that loves the Black and Gold. I don’t get all warm and tingly thinking about this.”
Clark isn’t alone in that line of thinking. It’s a major concern moving forward and a real risk that the Steelers might have backed themselves into taking due to their need at quarterback after losing Justin Fields in free agency to the New York Jets and reportedly not offering enough for Sam Darnold.
While Rodgers showed signs of still being able to play last season, especially late in the season, he’s a personality clash, one who has a history of throwing teammates under the bus when things aren’t going well. He had a public clash with ownership in New York, had some issues with an offensive coordinator change with the Jets, and was generally a headache for much of the year.
Is that something the Steelers truly want to bring into the fold, especially in a season where they have a window to win and seemingly have a plan of attack in place? That doesn’t seem smart.
Should that happen, Clark sees the Steelers winding up in the “pride lines” of darkness, with the Rodgers and darkness pun completely intended.
“We gonna be like the pride lands. You know what the Pride Lands was? That’s where Scar and the Hyenas was. That’s the dark area,” Clark said of the potential Steelers-Rodgers pairing. “That’s where we gonna end up.”
That might not happen, considering it’s well-known that Mike Tomlin never has losing seasons. But if it goes bad, that could be best for the Steelers and the future of their quarterback situation.
