The Steelers are 10-2, just beat the rival Bengals for their seventh consecutive win and can clinch the AFC North championship with a victory over Baltimore on Sunday night. But they're not happy.
And that was before commissioner Roger Goodell's new $200 million contract extension that runs through 2024 was announced shortly after they completed their practice session Wednesday.
With the injury to teammate Ryan Shazier hanging like a cloud over the team and no real updates on that front other than his returning home, the Steelers learned Cincinnati safety George Iloka had his one-game suspension for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Antonio Brown late in Monday night's 23-20 win overturned upon appeal by the NFL.
That in itself wouldn't have been much to tick this team off. Iloka, after all, did draw a fine of $36,464.50. But considering teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster's suspension for a hit on linebacker Vontaze Burfict was upheld by the league Tuesday night, the Steelers were furious.
Mike Mitchell, a Cincinnati native who defended Iloka on Twitter following the game, told reporters Wednesday at the Rooney Sports Complex he felt the league was being hypocritical. Mitchell trains with Iloka in the offseason and didn't feel either hit deserved a suspension. And he, and many of his teammates, were upset that Smith-Schuster got the same suspension as that given to New England's Rob Gronkowski for spearing Buffalo's Tre'Davious White in the back of the head following a play Sunday.
"Just hand us all some flags and we’ll try to grab the flags off," Mitchell said. "We’re not playing football. This is not damn football. When I was six years old watching Charles Woodson, Rod Woodson, Sean Taylor, the hitters, Jack Tatum, that’s football. This ain’t football. You’ve got to know the risk when you sign up. No one wants to be paralyzed or for us to have head injuries. These are all things that are negative.
"But let’s not try to turn football into a dangerous, barbaric game. This is how I changed my family legacy. Before I got drafted, I had $368 in my bank account. That is far from the case today. I changed my family legacy through this beautiful game of football forever. Let’s not try to turn it into some evil, dirty game. It’s football. It’s like UFC fighting. This is a combat, contact sport. There are going to be injuries. That’s just what it is. If you don’t want to get into it, don’t come out here. This is for real men. This is a man’s game. Ray Lewis said that a couple of years ago. I stand by that. You want to be a little kid, you don’t want to get your ass hit, don’t come out here."
That wasn't all Mitchell, who has been fined by the league in the past for hits, including that one against Cincinnati tight end Tyler Eifert two years ago, had to say:
Smith-Schuster is not permitted to be at the team facility during his suspension. He can return to the team next Monday. He will lose $27,352 in salary for this week after his appeal was denied by James Thrash, a former receiver for the Redskins and Eagles. Thrash was hired by the league and players' union as an appeals officer for on-field player discipline in 2015.
He's another look at Smith-Schuster's block:
Iloka's appeal was heard by former Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks, another appeals officer. His hit came a handful of plays after Smith-Schuster had leveled Burfict.
Here it is:
"JuJu was just playing hard," Maurkice Pouncey said. "You suspend a kid for playing hard? That doesn’t make sense. And you overturn the other guy because A.B. got up and scored a touchdown? Come on."
The NFL announced earlier in the day it was considering adding a targeting rule similar to that used in college where officials could review a hit and immediately eject a player based on helmet-to-helmet contact.
Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said the proposal will be part of the Competition Committee's February meeting agenda.
"I think it's something we have to consider," Vincent said on a conference call with reporters. "We think there have been some positives, talking to some of the (college) conferences and the officials there, and also some of the student-athletes ... it is a deterrent. It's something that we will consider -- it is one of our agenda items for the offseason as we speak to the coaches and the Competition Committee."
That didn't exactly go over well in the Steelers' locker room, either.
"Stupid," said Cameron Heyward. "You’re not only costing a team 15 yards, now you’re going to cost them a player? Guys aren’t trying to hurt each other. I know JuJu didn’t try to hurt anybody. He thought he was doing his job and he thought he was doing it well. You shouldn’t stand over anybody but he was already apologetic during that play. He said, ‘I’m sorry, guys, I let you down.’ Isn’t that enough? You’re going to hit his paycheck. I don’t get where you get off suspending a kid who doesn’t have a history and hasn’t continued to do it. What is it going off of?"
Smith-Schuster will miss the game Sunday against the Ravens. According to a team source, there is no further appeal process in which the Steelers can partake at this point.
Mitchell said that is something the NFL Players Association will have to take up with the league during negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement. The current deal between the league and players runs through the 2021 season.
With Goodell now having a new contract from owners, negotiations could get contentious.
"We’ve got to do better. We’ve got to get better as players. When we sign the next CBA, we’ve got to do better as to who is running the league. Everybody from fans, players, owners are all disappointed in Roger Goodell," Mitchell said. "We’ve just got to do better. We can’t have a guy hand out discipline just how you see fit. There has to be a set guidelines how we do what we do. There’s no way I see guys get post-play penalties that don’t have to do with football and you get the same suspension as a guy making a football play. It’s absolutely absurd."
