Julian Edelman: Steelers Comments 'Taken Out Of Context'

By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- If you only read the headlines, you'd think Julian Edelman was taking a shot at the Pittsburgh Steelers for the way the Rooneys run their organization. But such as it goes on the internet and in the media, words will be twisted, and Edelman's recent comments forced the Patriots receiver to respond to a mostly media-created controversy.

Edelman clarified his recent remarks on the Steelers in a Wednesday conference call with the Pittsburgh media. He made headlines earlier this week when he was asked about the controversy surrounding Antonio Brown's Facebook Live video that caught head coach Mike Tomlin calling the Patriots "a-holes."

In the interest of keeping his comment on the Steelers firmly within its own context, here's the full quote:

"Hey, people have different rules. That's how that team is run. I personally don't think that would be something that would happen in our locker room."

Of course, most news organizations ran with just "That's how that team is run" in their headlines. Isolating that one statement made Edelman sound like he was implying that the Steelers are a poorly run organization or that the Patriots are superior in that regard.

A reporter gave him the chance to explain what he meant, and he did:

"Yeah, I mean I think it was taken out of context. I have nothing but respect for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They're an unbelievable franchise. It starts from the top with the Rooney Family, Coach [Mike] Tomlin, I think they just mis[interpreted] – I mean, I don't know, I may have said it, but I think more of that was that it's not the way we would do it here. That's just how that goes. There was no maliciousness about it, but it's whatever. That's what the media does, try to make stories."

It's hard to deduce a person's tone or underlying meaning when you simply read their comments on the internet. Just because Edelman said the Patriots run their organization differently from the Steelers doesn't mean he said they run it better.

It would be silly to make such a declaration, anyway, considering that the Steelers have won more Super Bowls than the Patriots since 2004 and more in their entire history. But like Edelman said, that's what the media does.

Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

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• NFL
• Julian Edelman
• New England Patriots