Darius Slay can appreciate the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. A historic Sunday night matchup. He’s having a harder time appreciating the jerseys he and the rest of the Steelers will be wearing. On the latest episode of his podcast with co-host Richard Sherman, Slay ribbed the 1933 throwbacks Pittsburgh will sport in Week 8.
“I’m a traditional guy,” Slay said on the show. “There’s a lot of loud colors right there. I’m going to have to figure it out. Gotta get my cleat game right. Because if I don’t feel good, I don’t play good. We’re going to have to figure it out. That might be a little too much yellow.”
Fans will be quick to insert their own joke about Slay not playing well no matter the uniform. He’s coming off an ugly Thursday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Struggling just like teammates Jalen Ramsey and Joey Porter Jr., he allowed a quarterback rating of 118.8 per our charting.
That included giving up a crucial third-down, downfield completion to WR Andrei Iosivas.
Pittsburgh will wear its 1933 throwbacks this weekend. Honoring the inaugural team, the jerseys have a twist on the franchise’s original attire. Brighter and more vibrant with the city crest, they were revealed in July. But Slay only saw them recently and didn’t love the finished product.
“We look like we incarcerated,” Slay said with a smile. “We in the jailhouse.”
Pittsburgh has a strong history of wearing throwback uniforms and playing in primetime conditions. On Sunday night during the Mike Tomlin era, the Steelers are 22-16. No matter what the uniforms look like, they’ll be even uglier if the Steelers don’t play better in them. That means stopping the run, taking care of the football, and finding a way to beat a tough Green Bay Packers team to move to 5-2 and avoid their first losing streak of the season.
