Tomlin Regrets Salty Language, Says Postgame Video Should Have Never Been Broadcast
BOSTON (CBS) -- Mike Tomlin is not very pleased that his postgame chat with his Pittsburgh Steelers was broadcast over social media following their AFC Divisional Round win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tomlin said it should have never happened, and is disappointed that wide receiver Antonio Brown put the postgame pep talk on Facebook Live on Sunday night. The video included the coach calling the New England Patriots -- Pittsburgh's opponent in the AFC Championship on Sunday -- "a-holes."
Tomlin said he regrets the language used by himself and his players during the 17-minute video, which has since been deleted from Facebook.
"This thing that is the National Football League, the platform we have, is a precious and awesome thing and not something we take very lightly. The responsibility associated with being in [the NFL], just from a role model standpoint, is something I personally embrace and something we as a team and an organization embrace. That's why the language and content is regrettable," Tomlin explained, saying the postgame talk was a moment that should have been preserved for just the team. "I apologize for the content of the video from that perspective, as a parent and a member of a community. I take that very seriously and so I sincerely issue an apology."
Tomlin said he has no worries that the video will be a distraction for his team heading into the AFC Championship, and isn't concerned about it giving the Patriots any added motivation.
"We're in the AFC Championship; you're not going to creep into the back door against New England and creep out there with an AFC Championship. I'm not worried about our teams ability to deal with the potential distractions. We've prepared for distractions as much as we've prepared for this opportunity," he said. "That has no consequence on us or our preparation, or ultimately, our play. We'll go up there and be ready to play winning football."
However, when it comes to Brown himself, Tomlin sounds like a father ready to scold one of his children.
"I'll be bluntly honest here: It was foolish of him to do that, it was selfish of him to do that, and inconsiderate for him to do that," Tomlin said of Brown. "Not only is it a violation of our policy but a violation of league policy. Both of which he knows.
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"We'll punish him, and do so swiftly and do so internally," he said. "I'm sure he'll appropriately absorb all of those things as he moves forward. But larger than that, he has to grow from this. He has to. He works extremely hard and is extremely talented, and those things get minimized with incidents such as this. It wears on teammates when they have to answer questions about things other than our preparation or football-related."
With that, Tomlin said he won't let the viral antics become any more of a distraction heading into the AFC title game. He said the media can have as much fun as they want with it, but he's ready to move on from the incident and focus on football.
"We have to be great. That's just the reality of it," he said of facing the Patriots. "We have to score one more point than they do; hold them to one less point than we score. ... We have to be great."
Tune in to Sunday's Steelers-Patriots AFC Championship game on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV -- the flagship stations of the New England Patriots.
