Old Men in Sweats! TM
By: Tommy T. & Barry D.
Volume 14
Is it the “R” Word?!
With AB's subsequent trade & Bell's approaching departure, here's something to think about?...
Antonio Brown, after recording his 6th 100-catch season in a row, has asked for a trade out of Pittsburgh. LeVeon Bell, after sitting out and giving up his $14 million salary last season, will officially become a free agent in March. And if you talk to any Steeler fan around the country they will tell you that both Brown and Bell are selfish, spoiled, and stupid. Go ahead ask any hardcore Steelers fan. I talk to them in Las Vegas daily. I talk to them in Los Angeles when I travel there a couple times a month. I’ve spoken to them from my hometown in Upstate NY. And I speak to tourists from the Midwest who come to Vegas for the weekends. Every one of them to a man and a woman will give you one of the three S’s for Brown and Bell: selfish, spoiled, and stupid.
I contend that Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell are not any of the three S’s. They are not selfish, spoiled, and they sure as hell are not stupid. I assert from all of my research over that last few years that Brown and Bell are principled, courageous, hard working, intelligent, and completely fed up with the behind-the-scenes garbage in Pittsburgh. I believe Brown and Bell are not the causes of the problems in Pittsburgh and are simply the publicly scorned culprits of the internal problems in Steel Town. They are more misunderstood than misbehaved.
The reason most of the Steeler fans and the sports world as a whole has chosen to land on Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell for their behavior is because the entire sports community has chosen to give Ben Roethlisberger and to a lesser extent Mike Tomlin and Steelers management a pass. It’s kind of ironic (and not in a Alanis Morissetee way). Because Big Ben can still throw a nice pass, everybody gives him a pass. I never have and never will.
I know Big Ben is at the root of all the Steelers’ problems. I always suspected it but do you know the moment it became crystal clear? When Steelers GM Kevin Colbert made the most ridiculously stupid comments a couple weeks ago. That was the final illumination. While Brown and Bell are accused of being the three S’s, I’ve learned that Roethlisberger and Colbert are in fact the three super S’s. Throughout this whole messy process nobody has said anything as remotely stupid as Colbert’s comment that Big Ben, “has a right to say what he wants” or the one with the horrible implications, “If our players were smart they’d listen to him.” Of course implying that Antonio Brown is NOT smart. And my favorite, “Big Ben has 52 kids under him.” Come on Steeler fans, you’re going to sit there and tell me that Kevin Colbert is not so far out of touch he shouldn’t be anywhere near a professional sports team?
Because this is the same Ben Roethlisberger who has been accused of rape, not once but twice, in the last 10 years. The same Ben Roethlisberger who had his suspension “reduced” from 6 games to 4 games after the police chief in the small town of Georgia basically said, “we know he did it but we can’t prove he did it so we can’t charge him.” The town of Milledgeville GA, where Big Ben was accused of rape the second time, with his teammate Max Starks guarding the bathroom door at the dive bar so the victim’s friends couldn’t get to her to stop the alleged rape. This is the guy who Brown and Bell should follow with no questions asked? Big Ben? The guy who consistently calls out teammates on his weekly radio appearance for not running a pass route properly and that’s why Big Ben threw the game ending interception. That Big Ben? It seems to me that Big Ben is a chump.
I don’t know the guy but from everything I’ve read over the years the guy seems like a first class a-hole. But yeah, why doesn’t Antonio Brown follow Big Ben because Brown is not smart, and just a kid? According to Colbert. You mean we’re all supposed to follow Kevin Colbert’s lead on this horrible period of the historical Steelers franchise? Now I believe we all assume you have to be a pretty smart guy to become the GM or the head coach of an NFL franchise. And Colbert has been employed by the Steelers for a long, long time. As has Mike Tomlin. But you have to be completely disconnected to not question the intelligence level of Kevin Colbert after reading those asinine statements about his two-time winning Super Bowl QB and two-time alleged rapist QB.
Why does Big Ben get such a pass? Tom Brady was accused of somehow being connected to a number of RICO predicates apparently associated with the PSI of in-game footballs, and sports fans bring it up at every turn. Listen to ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports. Google Rob Parker, sports personality, and he’ll refer to Brady as a cheater almost daily. Rob Parker hates Tom Brady but loves Ben Roethlisberger. Never once do you hear Skip Bayless, Doug Gottlieb, Max Kellerman or any of the big personalities bring up Big Ben’s past. Why? At least Stephen A. Smith went after Colbert for his recent stupid comments. But the Steelers management and star QB get the pass of all passes. Then listen to all the insinuations against the character of Aaron Rodgers. Did he have a part in getting his longtime coach Mike McCarthy fired? Or the character of Cam Newton or Kirk Cousins. So many QBs around the league get their character and integrity questioned daily yet Big Ben gets the pass of all passes.
The accused rapist. The habitual teammate criticizer. The guy that wore the T-shirt “Drink Like a Champion.” The QB who has been accused by several local restaurant owners of running out on his tab. That star QB gets a pass.
Why? Is it simply a black guy going against a white guy? Is that it? Is there a hint of Racism here? Highly possible. I’m not bringing the Race Card out for a reaction! Or am I completely missing it? Admittedly possible, but from my deep research on the subject I don’t believe I’m off base factually.
Somebody please hit the OMIS up and tell us how Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell are considered to be selfish, spoiled and stupid and Ben Roethlisberger is considered to be the unquestioned leader of the Steelers?
-OMIS
OMIS: “PREACHING SPORTS KNOWLEDGE FOR A LIFETIME!”