Chase what matters: How Claypool’s promising career has gone off track

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Merril Hoge was so serious about getting his message across to disgruntled players that he literally had it carved into wood and placed on his desk for all to see. 

It was the spring of 2018 and the former Steelers running back was in Vero Beach, Fla., coaching a team competing in an experimental pro football league in which fans could stream exhibition games and call their own plays using an app.

While the premise of “Your Call Football” was different than anything Hoge had experienced, his interactions with brooding players was all too familiar. After several such encounters, Hoge phoned a wood carver in his native Idaho and asked if he could make him a sign.

Upon arrival, he positioned it so it would be visible to everyone entering his office, and prior to each one-on-one meeting, he required the player to read the words:

Don’t Give Me Excuses. Bring Me Solutions.

“They would read it, and it was like their minds were ready to blow up,” Hoge recalled.

This is the anecdote the former NFL player and ESPN analyst used as an entry point into a discussion regarding Chase Claypool. The Steelers second-year receiver has been a topic of national debate for a solid week following his strong performance and selfish actions in his team’s 36-28 loss to the Vikings on Dec. 9.

Claypool was flagged for a silly unnecessary roughness penalty on the game’s opening drive and committed a mind-numbing mental error on its final series in which he caught a fourth-down pass only to waste precious seconds by holding the ball and striking a first-down pose. In between those intolerable acts, Claypool caught eight passes for 93 yards. 

His coach, Mike Tomlin, briefly benched the receiver early in the game. His quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, directed all questions about Claypool’s foibles to Tomlin. ESPN analyst and former Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark said: “Chase Claypool is as mentally and emotionally underdeveloped as he is physically overdeveloped. . . . He only cares about himself.”

Over the past week, many have asked what the Steelers can do to help Claypool through a troubled spell. Hoge comes at it from a different angle.

“The one universal thing that everybody does who’s truly successful in life is they self-evaluate,” Hoge told DK Pittsburgh Sports. “They look at themselves and they go about molding and correcting and making adjustments. Then, they take action. It’s a constant evolution of looking at yourself. You can only do so much to help people. If they are not willing to be part of that process, I don’t care who you are, or what kind of motivator you have been throughout your career, you are doing nothing to change the person.”

Hoge, who built his television career on film analysis, goes a step further. Those focused on Claypool’s mistakes against the Vikings, he said, are missing the bigger picture. Because while his number of catches and reception yardage likely will exceed his rookie production, Claypool is nowhere close to being the impact player he was last season when grabbing nine touchdown passes and rushing for two others.

“His routes are atrocious,” Hoge said. “He busts things. I’ve never seen anybody enter the box and quit on plays and not be a willing participant to even block somebody and help out. Those things are truly damaging. . . . I don’t know how you go in and watch tape with your teammates. You have to have a delusional view of yourself to think, ‘It’s OK to play like that.’ In your second year, you are supposed to see the greatest growth in players and you don’t see that here. There’s a serious decline.”

Hoge also understands that Claypool is only 23-years-old, and that progress and maturity are not always linear. Years ago, he adapted a parenting tool to his work with young athletes: “I measure my kids in the yardsticks of their years, not mine.”

He recognizes how valuable Claypool is to the Steelers (6-6-1) now and in the future. His 16 yards-per-catch average ranks him fifth among NFL receivers with at least 40 receptions and 70 targets. 

Claypool also leads all receivers in penalties (eight), while catching only one touchdown in 11 games.

“I can’t believe there hasn’t been an embarrassment level, a humbling moment, a ‘you better wake up’ moment,” Hoge said. “That’s concerning. This is not going in the right direction from an accountability aspect.”

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NFL NETWORK SCREEN GRAB

Mike Tomlin speaks to Chase Claypool on Dec. 9 during the Steelers game in Minnesota.

In his weekly news conference, Tomlin provided a detailed and thoughtful answer to a question he had to know was coming concerning the Claypool fallout.

“He's a young guy that's growing and developing in a lot of ways,” the coach said Tuesday. “It can't happen fast enough for him, and it can't happen fast enough for us. We're going to continue to push that growth and development as long as he's a willing participant. He has been, and so we're just gonna keep moving forward. That can be said about a lot of guys. These guys don't come to you as finished products.”

Claypool has been at a career crossroads on several occasions, and managed to make the right choices in the past. Context is important when examining personal growth. 

He was raised by a single-parent mother along with his four siblings in Abbotsford, British Columbia. One of his biggest supporters, his sister Ashley, committed suicide when he was 13. 

Claypool didn’t like attending football practices as a ninth grader, and coaches struggled to keep him mentally engaged, in part, because he was so athletically advanced. He was frequently flagged for penalties, just as he is now. 

“High school was not easy for him,” Travis Bell, a rival coach told DK Pittsburgh Sports a year ago. “He battled a few things. And whether he would finish his time out at Abbotsford was sometimes in question.”

Claypool not only remained in school, but earned a scholarship to Notre Dame, where he again encountered adversity of his own making. 

“He was pretty immature when he got to Notre Dame,” Dane Brugler, an NFL Draft analyst for The Athletic, said this week. “But the coaches really praised how much he grew up over the years.”

Claypool is a proud athlete, a characteristic reflected in his social media accounts. His pinned post on Twitter reveals his journey from at-risk youth to family provider.

Some believe Claypool would have benefitted greatly from learning his craft at the pro level under former Steelers receivers coach Darryl Drake, who died suddenly at age 62 on Aug. 11, 2019. Drake’s impact spanned decades at the college and pro levels, and he was influential in the development of receivers such as Hines Ward, Larry Fitzgerald and current Steelers wideout Diontae Johnson. 

“There’s no question Darryl would have been a big help to Chase,” a league source said Wednesday. 

Claypool is not one afraid to stir the pot. After losing to the Browns in the playoffs last season, he predicted on TikTok that they would get “clapped” the following week against the Chiefs. When the Steelers gained a measure of revenge with a 15-10 win in Cleveland on Oct. 31, he posted a picture of himself flashing a peace sign to angry Browns fans on Twitter. 

“I put myself in positions where I know there’s going to be controversy,” Claypool told Ty Dunne of Go Long several weeks ago. “But I also know you can’t please everybody. It’s not my job to please anybody.”

The Steelers clearly required Claypool to face the media last week in Minnesota after his inexcusable fourth-down celebration cost them a chance to run at least one more play in the final seconds. It was the latest in a series of lowlights this year that includes a well-documented fight with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in practice prior to the start of the season and Claypool’s curious Nov. 29 recommendation to play music as a way to improve practices and make them more fun. That comment came on the heels of a 41-10 loss to the Bengals.

Former Steelers offensive lineman Ramon Foster was asked how he would address Claypool’s missteps if he were still in the locker room. 

“Honestly, tell him balling cures everything,” Foster wrote in a text message. “If he balls out, stack his stats and acknowledges that he’s steadily growing as a pro he would be fine. Also tell him that not one single vet who’s trying to help him is mistake-free. Everyone messes up, but he’s got to show progress and those same guys are trying to prevent him from crashing out. Don’t take the critiques and criticism personally. These days, everyone has a voice so take the good and move forward.”

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STEELERS

Ben Roethlisberger throws a pass to Chase Claypool in practice.

Roethlisberger struck a diplomatic tone Wednesday when answering a question about Claypool. The quarterback said he’s spoken to the receiver, and he’s told him how much he appreciated his effort in helping rally the Steelers from a 29-0 deficit against Minnesota. 

“I know Chase is going to come out here today and give everything he has,” Roethlisberger said. “We need Chase because he’s a really good football player.”

Roethlisbeger is approaching 40, and likely his final few weeks of a Hall-of Fame career. He’s been around so long that we sometimes forget his own journey was once jeopardized by bad decisions.

He was accused of sexual assault twice over the course of 2009 and 2010, and while charges were never brought against him, the NFL suspended Roethlisberger for the start of the 2010 season, citing violations of its personal conduct policy. 

Art Rooney II asked Hoge to meet with the quarterback, the former running back said, as a way to offer him counsel and support.

“We went out on the deck and we talked,” Hoge recalled. “Ben said something like, ‘Merril, I appreciate you being here. I’ll take your guidance, your help, anything you can give me. But I’ve got myself in a mess and I’ve got to get myself out. At the end of the day, I don’t need to be in those places. I can’t be in that environment anymore.’ He didn’t point fingers or cast blame.

“The greatest story of accountability in recent Steelers history — and we’re talking off the field when you look at the fiber, the character, the person, the husband — is Ben Roethlisberger.” 

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Former Steelers defensive back Mike Logan is aware of all the debate and hot takes surrounding Claypool the past week. He also knows the team’s struggles raise questions about locker-room culture and who should be enforcing it. 

Logan said that outsiders, including himself, are not in the position to make judgements on what’s transpiring behind closed doors.

“If it’s on the field, then, sure, whoever the team leaders are can speak with (Claypool) about it,” Logan wrote in a text message. “But that depends on the temperature of their locker room. If this is a team that has egos, then it will be more difficult. It’s the leadership’s responsibility to show the younger players how to be a professional. There’s a huge difference between being a leader and leadership, though. I don’t know if they have the leadership required to rectify the situation or not. Only those in the locker room know.”

Hoge agrees with that sentiment. He also thinks Tomlin’s experience in dealing with high-profile players and polarizing personalities such as Antonio Brown can help in navigating the choppy waters the Steelers find themselves in with Claypool. 

While Brown’s controversial departure is fresh in the memory of Steelers fans, the club is hardly alone in administering to talented players caught up in their own success. It happens in every league and at every level. Hoge entered the NFL in 1987 with former Steelers cornerback Delton Hall, a second-round draft pick who became the team’s rookie of year ahead of future Hall of Famer Rod Woodson. 

“Beltin’ Delton” intercepted three passes and scored two defensive touchdowns in his first season, but injuries and a penchant for partying led to a precipitous decline. Hall was out of the league after the 1992 season. 

“You can’t make somebody accountable,” Hoge said speaking about no player in particular. “You can tell them that, and sometimes the light goes on, but often times it doesn’t. And there could be a whole host of issues someone might have where they don’t accept accountability.” 

Hoge loves what Claypool brings to the Steelers when he’s fully engaged. He can be a 6-foot-4, 238-pound matchup nightmare for defensive coordinators. 

But one good season shouldn’t have a player thinking about who to thank in Canton at career’s end. 

“Some guys get a lot of early recognition and accolades,” Hoge said. “Suddenly, they think they have arrived — they are the best and they don’t have to work hard. That is the most toxic, poisonous way to discover failure and often times with players like that, they wake up too late. 

“What you hope is that doesn’t happen with Chase Claypool. There are clearly ways he can resurrect things and have a fabulous career, but it requires a commitment and a work ethic that is relentless. This has everything to do with him.”

Hoge is referencing the kind of self-evaluation and can-do attitude that could be carved into wood.