DK: Rooney's not about to get rash regarding Tomlin ... or ever
Maybe, beginning this weekend in Baltimore, the Steelers will bring down the Ravens with such brilliance, such brawn that it'll come across as a sequel to that clinic against the Colts.
Maybe that'll build back their confidence, through the ceiling, and they'll commit the polar opposite of their 2024 close and ... wow, win out. Like, the whole way to 11-6.
And maybe, in turn, all of that combined could buy them the playoff mojo they've been missing for nearly half a decade and they'd finally ... they'd finally ...
Yeah, I know.
Can't fault a guy for trying, right?
Look, here's all that's certain in the moment: They're 6-6, they're in a technical tie for the AFC North Division lead, they're a hair and a half out of a playoff position, and they hold their fate within their own hands in the form of not one but two remaining head-to-heads with the Ravens. Not to mention the pivotal inside-the-conference tiebreaker.
As end-of-the-world scenarios go, this one's seriously lacking in cataclysm.
Now, I don't bring this up to offer hope.
I have none myself, and I'd feel like a fraud trying to peddle it onto others. Being blunt, I can't envision anything remotely upbeat after what I witnessed -- and heard -- a couple days ago at Acrisure Stadium. That whole scene came complete with everything but vultures circling overhead.
No, I bring this up in a semi-abstract attempt to illustrate what Art Rooney's probably been pondering over the 48 hours since he, too, experienced all of that.
See, what I've written above ... I'd bet anything, from years of being around the man, that it's all that and not a thing else. It wouldn't be about Mike Tomlin being 6-11 over his past 17 games. It wouldn't be about how Tomlin and/or his coordinators have handled or mishandled this or that over the first 13 weeks. And you'd better believe it wouldn't be about the crowd chanting for Tomlin's firing or booing 'Renegade' or any of that.
Not because it wouldn't move him. I'm sure it did. He and the Rooney family are Pittsburgh lifers and, spanning the lineage, civic treasures. That had to have hit home. Literally.
It's just ... he's not wired that way. And I say that for a couple of reasons:
1. When it comes to assessing the Steelers, in my experience with him, Rooney can be transactional. Which is to say, he'll prefer to clear out a lot of other clutter and condense how he feels to one simple question: Did we win or not?
For example, when we've talked about 2024, his first mention will be, in some form, that the team opened up 10-3. He'll get into the collapse eventually, but he'll begin with that record.
So, in that spirit, he's infinitely more likely to look at 6-6 and tied for first through a cooler head and with, in his mind, hope for what could still happen.
2. He's anything but the type to be swayed by public sentiment, and that's not limited to football. He has his own stances, his own beliefs, and for better or worse, he'd prefer to persevere through pretty much any adversity doing something his way, if only to buttress that his way -- or the Steelers' way, if it's a football issue -- can endure.
So yeah, again, he wouldn't have welcomed the chants and the booing. But no, that wouldn't be what prompts action. Or even influences it all that much.
He's also not moved much by what others within the Steelers' ownership structure have to say, and that's important for the obvious reason that, if he's the only one who can fire Tomlin -- he absolutely is -- then those minority owners are the only ones who'd conceivably feel comfortable offering their own unfettered opinions of Tomlin.
Even then, when I asked Rooney back in January, after the 2024 collapse, if he had a sense for how angry people were at the time, he smiled slightly and answered, "My inbox has been pretty full. I have a sense. And I share the frustration. It's very disappointing. I understand why. I understand why people are mad. All I can say is actions speak louder than words, and we've got to be better."
That's him. That's Art.
And that's what one would hear today, if it'd be anything at all beyond Baltimore.
I'll add this, though: I do get the sense that this year's different in some ways internally. People on South Water Street who once staunchly defended Tomlin from every criticism in every direction aren't ... as staunch. Valves that used to be sealed shut by Tomlin are leaking more than ever. There's open concern about comments made by coaches, players and others.
Different feel. Different time.
But as far as figuring how Rooney might react, it's best for now to keep both eyes on the field.
THE ASYLUM
DK: Rooney's not about to get rash regarding Tomlin ... or ever
Maybe, beginning this weekend in Baltimore, the Steelers will bring down the Ravens with such brilliance, such brawn that it'll come across as a sequel to that clinic against the Colts.
Maybe that'll build back their confidence, through the ceiling, and they'll commit the polar opposite of their 2024 close and ... wow, win out. Like, the whole way to 11-6.
And maybe, in turn, all of that combined could buy them the playoff mojo they've been missing for nearly half a decade and they'd finally ... they'd finally ...
Yeah, I know.
Can't fault a guy for trying, right?
Look, here's all that's certain in the moment: They're 6-6, they're in a technical tie for the AFC North Division lead, they're a hair and a half out of a playoff position, and they hold their fate within their own hands in the form of not one but two remaining head-to-heads with the Ravens. Not to mention the pivotal inside-the-conference tiebreaker.
As end-of-the-world scenarios go, this one's seriously lacking in cataclysm.
Now, I don't bring this up to offer hope.
I have none myself, and I'd feel like a fraud trying to peddle it onto others. Being blunt, I can't envision anything remotely upbeat after what I witnessed -- and heard -- a couple days ago at Acrisure Stadium. That whole scene came complete with everything but vultures circling overhead.
No, I bring this up in a semi-abstract attempt to illustrate what Art Rooney's probably been pondering over the 48 hours since he, too, experienced all of that.
See, what I've written above ... I'd bet anything, from years of being around the man, that it's all that and not a thing else. It wouldn't be about Mike Tomlin being 6-11 over his past 17 games. It wouldn't be about how Tomlin and/or his coordinators have handled or mishandled this or that over the first 13 weeks. And you'd better believe it wouldn't be about the crowd chanting for Tomlin's firing or booing 'Renegade' or any of that.
Not because it wouldn't move him. I'm sure it did. He and the Rooney family are Pittsburgh lifers and, spanning the lineage, civic treasures. That had to have hit home. Literally.
It's just ... he's not wired that way. And I say that for a couple of reasons:
1. When it comes to assessing the Steelers, in my experience with him, Rooney can be transactional. Which is to say, he'll prefer to clear out a lot of other clutter and condense how he feels to one simple question: Did we win or not?
For example, when we've talked about 2024, his first mention will be, in some form, that the team opened up 10-3. He'll get into the collapse eventually, but he'll begin with that record.
So, in that spirit, he's infinitely more likely to look at 6-6 and tied for first through a cooler head and with, in his mind, hope for what could still happen.
2. He's anything but the type to be swayed by public sentiment, and that's not limited to football. He has his own stances, his own beliefs, and for better or worse, he'd prefer to persevere through pretty much any adversity doing something his way, if only to buttress that his way -- or the Steelers' way, if it's a football issue -- can endure.
So yeah, again, he wouldn't have welcomed the chants and the booing. But no, that wouldn't be what prompts action. Or even influences it all that much.
He's also not moved much by what others within the Steelers' ownership structure have to say, and that's important for the obvious reason that, if he's the only one who can fire Tomlin -- he absolutely is -- then those minority owners are the only ones who'd conceivably feel comfortable offering their own unfettered opinions of Tomlin.
Even then, when I asked Rooney back in January, after the 2024 collapse, if he had a sense for how angry people were at the time, he smiled slightly and answered, "My inbox has been pretty full. I have a sense. And I share the frustration. It's very disappointing. I understand why. I understand why people are mad. All I can say is actions speak louder than words, and we've got to be better."
That's him. That's Art.
And that's what one would hear today, if it'd be anything at all beyond Baltimore.
I'll add this, though: I do get the sense that this year's different in some ways internally. People on South Water Street who once staunchly defended Tomlin from every criticism in every direction aren't ... as staunch. Valves that used to be sealed shut by Tomlin are leaking more than ever. There's open concern about comments made by coaches, players and others.
Different feel. Different time.
But as far as figuring how Rooney might react, it's best for now to keep both eyes on the field.
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