Steelers are quiet as turmoil reigns in NFL
Iknew football season officially had started when I saw the headline from Berea, Ohio. Browns defensive end gives heckling fan the finger Welcome to the NFL, 2019! We’re not even a week into training camps and there is plenty of controversy, contract holdouts, significant injuries and general nonsense. Blissfully, none of it is coming from the Steelers, the squad formally known as Team Turmoil.
Is that a beautiful thing or
what?
Browns rookie coach Freddie Kitchens apparently didn’t like questions about Chad Thomas throwing the bird at a fan who yelled at Thomas to hustle. It will be handled internally, Kitchens growled. Kitchens and Browns general manager John Dorsey had the same type of abrupt reaction last week when asked about potential trouble between quarterback Baker Mayfield and running back Duke Johnson, who has asked to be traded. “You’re either on this train or you’re not,” Mayfield said of Johnson last month, reportedly angering some of their teammates who believe that Mayfield had no business sticking his nose in Johnson’s affairs. Kitchens’ terse response about Johnson last week: “He wants to be traded. I want to win the lottery. It doesn’t matter.”
Gosh, the Browns are going to be more fun to watch this season than even Antonio Brown’s Raiders.
Speaking of Mr. Big Chest, did you see he arrived at camp in a hot- air balloon? So much for keeping a low profile in the beginning with his new team. I actually found Brown’s arrival and message — “Float like a
butterfly, sting like AB” — to be humorous. I liked what he did a lot better than Jalen Ramsey’s arrival at Jaguars camp in an armored truck with the implied message, “I’m ready to get paid.” Please. Thankfully, there were no such grand entrances at Steelers camp, unless you count Eli Rogers showing up in a semi- truck, carrying a barbell and wearing a hard hat, overalls and work boots. All of the players are present and accounted for, unlike the previous two years when Le’Veon Bell was absent. Several other teams are having holdout problems this summer, including the Cowboys ( Ezekiel Elliott), Chargers ( Melvin Gordon), Saints ( Michael Thomas), Jaguars ( Yannick Ngakoue), Redskins ( Trent Williams) and Texans ( Jadeveon Clowney). Poor Jerry Jones in Dallas. The Cowboys also must do new deals with Dak Prescott and DeMarcus Lawence, not to mention coach Jason Garrett. I’m sure you are feeling sorry for Jones.
Gordon’s situation is especially interesting. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers unintentionally stirred the pot last week when he said, “We’re going to win with what we’ve got. It’s a pretty dang good group.” That led former NFL running back LenDale White to tweet, “Phill def a [ bleep]!! Back yo players up period!!” No word on what teammates think about Rivers. His comments seemed pretty innocuous compared to the way Steelers linemen trashed Bell last summer when he didn’t report.
Can’t we all just get along? The Steelers have avoided injuries so far, T. J. Watt’s tight hamstring and Sean Davis’ finger aside. Keep holding your breath about JuJu Smith- Schuster because receivers are going down fast. The New York Football Giants lost Corey Coleman and Sterling Shepard to injuries and a third receiver, Golden Tate, to a fourgame suspension for performanceenhancing drugs that he said was a prescribed fertility drug. But the biggest injury was in Bengals camp, where A. J. Green was lost for 6- 8 weeks with torn ligaments in his left ankle. There was speculation the injury was caused by poor field conditions at the University of Dayton, where the Bengals train. Rookie coach Zac Taylor can’t be thrilled, especially after also losing his top pick, offensive tackle Jonah Williams, for the season to shoulder surgery in June.
We started this discourse with an extended middle finger. Let’s end there, as well.
This goes back to September, when then- Seahawks All- Pro safety Earl Thomas was carted off the field after breaking his leg against the Cardinals. On his way to the locker room, Thomas flipped off Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Thomas had skipped training camp in a contract dispute. He signed a four- year, $ 55 million deal with the Ravens in the offseason.
“I don’t regret doing that to Pete,” Thomas told ESPN last week. “I gave Pete the middle finger because I felt like he wasn’t being honest with me.”
I repeat: Can’t we all get along?