Steelers strike wrong tone with complaints about postponed Thanksgiving showdown
With Thanksgiving in the rear- view mirror, take a little time to send one up for the beleaguered Pittsburgh Steelers.
These poor guys learned Wednesday afternoon that Thursday's primetime date at Heinz Field with archrival Baltimore – the Ravens are in the midst of a small (hopefully) COVID-19 outbreak – had been postponed to Sunday, stripping them of a national television showcase and ruining any plans they'd made for the long weekend.
Pittsburgh wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster immediately went to Twitter to express his dismay: “First the NFL takes away our bye week because another team can't get their Covid situation together, now they take away our Thanksgiving primetime game for the same reason.”
Fellow Steelers wideout Chase Claypool chimed in with, “What a joke....” on his Twitter account. There was plenty more. Tight end Eric Ebron tweeted, “we keep getting screwed this year.”
Running back Benny Snell and cornerback Mike Hilton offered more terse “SMH” assessments on their accounts.
And practice squad quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges weighed in with, “Maaaaaannnnnnnnnn that's some BS.” SMH.
This comes not even two months after the Steelers suffered the first broadside to their 2020 schedule when Week 4's planned visit to Nashville was delayed as the Titans tried to get their arms around the most extensive viral outbreak any team has endured this season.
Tennessee eventually had to play on a Tuesday night to keep its schedule intact. Yet several Pittsburgh players were affronted, upset over an unexpected bye week which was foisted upon them while their open date in Week 8 vanished.
“We got the short end of the stick,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, 38, said at the time.
Such burdens shouldered by a club that currently sports a 10-0 record while tracking toward the AFC's only playoff bye week – assuming the NFL doesn't figure out how to take that away from the Steelers, too.
Back in Baltimore, those dastardly Ravens – losers of three of their past four, their once formidable offense stuck in neutral – are trying to prepare for a contest potentially crucial to their playoff hopes even as the pandemic has shelved top running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins while also landing two key defenders (nose tackle Brandon Williams and linebacker Pernell McPhee) on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Several staffers within the organization have also tested positive, according to multiple reports.
The Ravens released a statement shortly after news of the postponement broke. It read: “We appreciate the NFL for its diligence in working closely with us to ensure the well-being of players, coaches and staff from both the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers organizations.
“Protecting the health and safety of each team, in addition to our communities at large, is of utmost importance. We will continue to follow guidance from the NFL and its medical experts, as we focus on safely resuming preparations for Sunday's game.”
Sure seems pretty measured and pertinent at a time when the coronavirus has killed more than 260,000 Americans and infected more than 12 million.
And it's not like some major advantage has been conferred to Baltimore, which is also slated to host the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 3 – the Thursday after Thanksgiving.
In fairness to the Steelers, it must be noted this is a first-class organization – I've seen first-hand the ways the franchise quietly supports its fans and their families while actively serving the community. In case you missed it, multiple players from the organization even bought dinner for Allegheny County election workers as Pennsylvania feverishly tabulated its ballots.
Players want to be here. The Rooney family and coach Mike Tomlin, who's taken a roll- with- thepunches mentality during the pandemic, are flush with respect throughout the league.
And Wednesday's mini tantrums were largely thrown by very young players who apparently couldn't prevent their thumbs from lashing out on their phones in the moment.
But c'mon, fellas. Let's realize for a minute that the NFL is looking out for your well-being also. Maybe look to an esteemed veteran in your locker room like Cam Heyward, who simply posted, “See you Sunday! Back to the lab.”
Perhaps realize what a minor inconvenience this truly is when the NFL is limiting your social agendas anyway ... to say nothing of the sick, unemployed and disenfranchised in this country who are grappling with far weightier issues than a football game delayed a mere three days.
And maybe give thanks – here in 2020, the most difficult year many of us have ever experienced – that you got to spend Thursday at home with your families before resuming a march that could end with just the second 16- 0 regular season.
Be better next time. Here we go.