The Steelers are headed to Ireland later this week, and HC Mike Tomlin is in charge of the itinerary—and its dissemination, apparently. On Richard Sherman’s podcast, Steelers CB Darius Slay shed some light on what they’re in for this week.
“Usually, work starts by 8 o’clock”, Slay told Sherman. “Shoot, [Tomlin] said first meeting at 7, just to get us up early. I’m like, ‘Man, I’m already up at 6:30 to get there for my DB meeting with my coach’”. He said he has to start his day at 5:30 now to be on time at the Steelers’ facility this week.
The Steelers’ Ireland game is their first overseas affair since 2013, which didn’t go so well. At that time, the NFL allowed teams much more free rein to set their own itinerary. The league controls it a lot more now, and apparently rebuffed Tomlin’s plans.
More than a decade ago, the Steelers left on a Thursday to play in London. Everybody had a miserable time, and the Steelers faced heavy criticism this offseason for suggesting they would stick to a similar itinerary. Of course, it turns out that the league isn’t really giving them a choice. The Steelers will leave for Ireland when they do because the league says so.
“We’re staying from Thursday to Sunday. We’re leaving Thursday, so it’s not bad”, Slay said. “I think we’ll probably get there Friday morning. I don’t know how that practice schedule’s gonna work. [Tomlin]’s gonna keep us updated with that, how we’re gonna do it. If we’re gonna have a walkthrough or if we’re gonna go out there and try to do something. We’re gonna figure that out on the move”.
It’s notable that Slay mentioned Tomlin keeping the Steelers up to date about the Ireland itinerary. I don’t know exactly when he recorded the podcast episode with Sherman, so it could have been Monday, for example. But it’s obvious Tomlin didn’t want his players thinking about the trip to Ireland before they had to.
Slay also said the Steelers advised players to make sure they sleep on the plane ride, and not to sleep when they land in Ireland right away. But he plans to sleep anyway—and based on my limited international travel, I don’t blame him.
The Steelers and Vikings both sit at 2-1, and to be fair, the Steelers are in a better place than during that 2013 season. They were 0-3 entering that game, and it took them half a season to look viable. Tomlin’s Steelers have plenty of warts as they head to Ireland, but they can win games. The Vikings will be a tough opponent, even without their starting quarterback.
But let’s be honest, it will be very interesting to hear the stories after the fact. International games are now common in the NFL, but the Steelers haven’t played one in over a decade. Cam Heyward is the only player left from that time, so he could provide the most insight about how the itinerary differs.
