Dunlap: Tomlin's Words About New England Were Great
Follow 93-7 The Fan: Facebook | Twitter
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - I loved it. Every single word of it.
You might agree with me. You might wholeheartedly disagree with me. That's fine, too. Guess what? We don't matter. Nope, we don't. We don't matter in the least.
Mike Tomlin didn't say what he said for us. He didn't talk about that 2,000 mph collision course headed for the New England Patriots game on Dec. 17 for some stinkin' media member or some fans waving yellow dishrags.
Nope.
He did it for his team. He did it as a rallying point. He did it for the men who actually wear the helmets and pads to have an understanding that their leader has full confidence in them.
To me, that's what the story is here. That's what the whole story is here and how I read this thing.
You see, there was a very, very, very exciting Steelers game on Sunday night. The Steelers even managed a way to win after playing down to an inferior opponent --- HOW ABOUT THAT!!!!
That said, much of the chinwag was about what Tomlin said on a pregame show to his mentor, Tony Dungy.
Already, in a sense, looking ahead to that mid-December date with the Pats, Tomlin answered honestly.
"It's probably going to be part one, and that's going to be a big game," Tomlin said. "But probably, if we're both doing what we're supposed to do, the second one is really going to be big. And what happens in the first is going to set up the second one, and it's going to determine the location of the second one."
So here come all the why-did-he-have-to-go-there fans from all the reaches of Steelerville. The people who want Mike T to be a robot. The people who want him to be Chuck Noll and will never get beyond it.
Here come the people today who want to be critical of Mike Tomlin for probably putting a couple carts before the horse. Here come the people who are saying that Tomlin wrote a huge check that now he better cash.
Save it. Just save it.
Know what Mike Tomlin did? He gave an honest answer.
What did you want the guy to say? Would you rather him say that his team is going to get their rear end kicked by the Patriots?
That would be a lie, as far as he is concerned.
Would you rather him say that guys who play sports --- the Steelers in this case --- only think about the very next game on the schedule?
Again, that would be a lie.
Would you rather him say, "you know what, Coach Dungy, we never think or talk about the Patriots in our locker room ever, except when we have them that week."
Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie!
Mike Tomlin is guilty of zero but telling the truth. He did away with the canned answers and inane coach-speak and stepped away from silly, synthetic answers as he pushed forward a very real notion. And you know what, I loved it. Tomlin showed that these guys aren't androids.
All that, however, you know who most likely noticed his words most? His own team; the Pittsburgh Steelers. Because, to me at least, Tomlin's message was pointed at them and it said loud and clear that he believes --- he truly believes --- this team can be the class of the AFC.
