I've been a big fan my whole life. My whole family has. In fact, my little sister was actually born on Superbowl Sunday on Feb. 5, 2006. The last time the Steelers won. She was wrapped in a terrible towel during her stay at the hospital. But, lately, it has become harder and harder to be proud of them as your team.
All of Pittsburgh's teams have steered clear of drama over the previous decades, but in recent news it seems that the Steelers have a new scandal every other week. First, we had to deal with Le'veon Bell's dumb ass, who I've personally hated from the first suspension that he was given. My dad likes to talk about back in his day, the Steelers were a no nonsense team, and our owners and coaches did not take any crap from any players, regardless of how good you are. There comes a point where talent only gets you so far, and a person's character is much more important. Well, Bell was a shitty person, and now instead of his legacy being a positive one, he will always be remembered by most Steelers fans as just that, a shitty person. Having to watch someone with so much selfishness play for your team is absolutely infuriating as a fan. Be grateful for what you have, jagoff.
What came from this however was the birth of James Conner. He is one of y favorite players in the game right now. I've been watching him since he was playing at the University of Pittsburgh just a few years ago. For those of you who don't know, he was the guy who beat cancer during his playing days at Pitt. He is just an all around great guy who plays the game hard. He won't point any fingers when things are going bad, but also won't take any credit when things are going good. Steelers linemen Ramon Foster even reported during the middle of the season that Conner hugged and thanked each linemen after winning offensive player of the week. That's the type of guy that I want to be rooting for.
Recently, another aggravating story has just came up after falling short of the playoffs, where Antonio Brown has asked to be traded because of disagreements with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and head coach Mike Tomlin. What is this, a toxic high school relationship where every disagreement results in threatening to break up? Antonio, this is professional football, hike up your skirt and work it out like a real man, face to face. Our supposedly elite, Pittsburgh-forever, wide receiver couldn't even show up for the final game of the season because he got benched because of the altercation. That's alright AB, because JuJu is just as good, I won't miss you if you go.
Which leads me to my next point, which is that JuJu Smith-Schuster is probably the coolest guy in the NFL and my personal favorite player. He is on pace to put up some of the best numbers in receiving yards of all time since the NFL merger in 1970. Also, he has fun, plays hard, and has became a fan favorite almost instantly. If you don't understant why, just check out his Instagram page. It is awesome to see someone having so much fun playing the sport when it seems it has become much more about business for many players. Although he likes to have fun, though, he plays hard, and has the balls to admit when he makes a mistake. This was seen most recently whenever he fumbled to lose the game against the Saints in Week 16. He went to social media to apologize and put the loss on himself. The moral of the story is that that one play was not the only reason that the Steelers lost, but he was a good enough team player to take the fall for it. Again, this is the kind of guy I want to see on my team.
Sure, the Steelers have dealt with some crap this year, but I am still a proud fan and I look forward to watching next season, especially these two guys in particular. Hopefully the entire league can see how special these two guys have the potential to be.
