Colbert hears noise, even on vacation

Acouple of weeks at Hilton Head probably weren’t enough to allow Kevin Colbert a complete decompression this summer, partly because as the general manager of an NFL team, he’s always available, and partly because of one fairly frightening reality:

If the GM is on vacation, his players are as well, and our thorough knowledge of what that can mean long predates this year’s misadventures with fireworks.

Did New York Giants owner John Mara really say this week that he didn’t know how many fingers defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has, currently? Oh yeah. So, at Hilton Head, relax? Seriously? “When you don’t have daily access to the players, you’re always concerned,” Colbert was saying this week on a Saint Vincent College hilltop. “You’re concerned about what they’re doing and you just hope that they make good decisions. But you’re not with them, so you don’t see what they look like when they come in in the morning and you don’t see them when they leave the parking lot at night. It’s not something that we should have to do, but that’s the reality of dealing with young men.”

All jobs have drawbacks, he’s quick to point out, because at the start of his 16th year in this Steelers job, Colbert has little about which to complain one week after signing a contract extension. The Rooneys clearly have no complaints about Colbert, and why ever would they?

The Steelers had more losing seasons in the two years before