The Pittsburgh Steelers have resigned T.J. Watt to a 3-year contract extension worth $144.05, including $108 million in guarantees. The deal makes T.J. Watt the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history and will keep him in Pittsburgh through the 2028 season.
Smart Steelers observers expected this deal to get done.
Speculators mused about chances of a long-term hold out or even a trade.
Score one for the Smart Steelers observers.
The Steelers locker room has voted T.J. Watt the team MVP a record five times. They did it after the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024 seasons. Minkah Fitzpatrick won the award in 2022 – when Watt missed close to half of the season with injuries.
T.J. Watt also won NFL defensive player of the year award in 2021. Clearly, this is someone Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan are wise to keep in the Steel City.
T.J. Watt ties the NFL sack record. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Why Watt is Worth It
T.J. Watt could retire today and remain a surefire Hall of Famer. With 121 games under his belt he has 108 sacks. For comparisons sake, James Harrison who is third on the list, had 80.5 in 177 career games.
Yet, despite his resume, some have suggested that resigning T.J. Watt was unwise.
They point to the overall decline in sack production in edge rushers who are over 30, Watt will turn 31 this year. Others point to the steep drop that his brother J.J. Watt experienced after age 29 and 8 years in the league – T.J. has just played his final year.
And they’ll also point to Watt’s own injury history.
He missed much of the first half of 2022 with injuries and took several games to find his rhythm when he returned. Watt remained healthy through the 2023 season, only to get injured in the regular season finale against Baltimore – he missed the playoffs and the Steelers missed him in that loss to the Bills. And in 2024 Watt never missed again, but did play much of the later season with an undisclosed injury that limited his effectiveness.
Injury is a risk with all NFL contracts and that risk increases with age.
And Father Time remains undefeated in the race between athletic ability and age
If the Steelers had any doubts about resigning T.J. Watt (they didn’t), perhaps the story of another 31 year old linebacker is most instructive. During the 1993 off season Dan Rooney and Tom Donahoe made an under the radar signing of a 31 year old from the Los Angeles Rams.
Kevin Greene sacks Stan Humphries in 1993. Photo Credit: AP, via al.com
Greene played 3 years, and during the 1995 season, went as far as predicting his own departure in the Steelers Digest, explaining that Jason Gildon was ready. Indeed, Super Bowl XXX was Greene’s final game in Black and Gold.
The Steelers let Greene walk because they’d groomed Gildon as a replacement – in the pre-Heinz Field days the Steelers had to be very targeted with their salary cap dollars. But that wasn’t the only reason.
The other was that, giving a large contract to a then 34 year old outside linebacker seemed insane.
Yet Kevin Greene had the last laugh, adding another 52 sacks (or one less than Lloyd’s career total) in four seasons with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.
This scribe won’t be surprised if T.J. Watt follows in Kevin Greene’s footsteps.
But the difference will be that Watt will do so in Pittsburgh.
…Sack Jameis Winston
…Negate a double team by batting down his pass
…Strip the ball from a carrier
…Come up with an interception out of blue
But of course none of the above happened. Although he’d put in a quiet night up in to that point, all of Steelers Nation expected T.J. Watt work one of his game-saving miracles. Yet, Watt wasn’t able to do that. And Steelers Nation stood disappointed.
T.J. Watt sacks Joe Burrow. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review
On one level that shows how spoiled we are, but that’s understandable. Before Watt’s time we’d come to expect the same of Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and Rod Woodson. Our parents and grandparents held similar expectations for Joe Greene, Jack Lambert and Mel Blount. And more often than not, at least in our memories if not in reality, all of them delivered.
So the disappointment is understandable. But the panic we’re seeing is not.
“T.J. Watt’s been invisible.”
“Opposing offensive coordinators have found a way to neutralize Watt.”
“If T.J. disappears the way Minkah Fitzpatrick has, we’re screwed.”
“T.J. Watt has found his kryptonite.”
So here’s a word to the wise to those who are worried about Watt: Don’t.
T.J. Watt’s recent slump calls to mind a comment about another Hall of Famer I read in the summer during the lead up to the Steelers 1995 season.
I can’t remember the publication, perhaps it was Street and Smith’s, but in reviewing the Steelers defense it said something like this about Kevin Greene: “…after amassing 10 sacks during the first ten weeks of the 1994 Steelers season, Greene only registered 4 over the final six weeks and none in the playoffs. Is it double teams or age?”
Kevin Greene sacks Stan Humphries in 1993. Photo Credit: AP, via al.com
The implication that we’d witnessed Father Time gaining a step on Kevin Greene in real-time sounded ominous.
It reality, it was ridiculous. Kevin Greene posted 9 sacks in 1995 plus 1.5 more in the playoffs and helped the Steelers reach Super Bowl XXX.
The Steelers let him go in free agency, and Greene went on to post double-digit sack numbers in four more seasons with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.
The moral of the story? T.J. Watt is will be fine.
The kryptonite comment above is amusing, but it also based on a false premise. T.J. Watt may be a generational talent, but he’s not Superman. He’s also played 91% of the Steelers defensive snaps this season which is up from 83% last season.
Anyone else think that Watt may have made it to that Thursday night game a little more tired than everyone else?
With 7.5 sacks this season Watt’s “only” on schedule to log 11 more. But as we saw against the Giants and Falcons, Watt can and does wreck games with a single play. Moreover, both Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig have proven they’re able to capitalize as opponents double and triple teaming Watt.
Week 12 brings the Steelers to Paycor Stadium against a talented and dangerous Cincinnati Bengals team who’d like nothing more than to play the role of AFC North spoiler.
T.J. Watt will take 104 career sacks, 31 forced fumbles and 7 interceptions to Cincinnati.
Watt has logged 12 (11.5%) of his career sacks, 5 (16%) of his forced fumbles and 2 (28%) of his interceptions in games against Cincinnati.
In other words, don’t be surprised if T.J. bounces back big against the Bengals.
While induction into the Steelers Hall of Honor represents a tremendous individual honor, the class of 2024 is a testament and tribute to the Bill Cowher era, with each man offering his own distinct contribution.
Let’s look how each man fits in.
Who was Casey Hampton?
The Steelers drafted Casey Hampton, aka “Big Snack” in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft after trading down with the Dallas Cowboys. Casey Hampton would go on to appear in 174 games and start 164 games for the Steelers over 12 years, winning two Super Bowls along the way.
How Hampton Embodies the Cowher Era
In an on-line chat Ed Bouchette once observed that the nose tackle’s knees are the fulcrum that the success or failure of the zone blitz rises and falls upon. (Or something like that.) A central tenant of the Zone Blitz was to stuff the run, thereby setting third and long situations.
While this is less important in today’s game, in the ‘90’s and for the 00’s this was critical.
And with Casey Hampton in the middle, the Steelers effectively shut the middle of the field down, forcing opposing coaches to abandon any hope of “running through the tackles.”
Who was Jason Gildon?
Every era of Steelers defensive football seems to have star that was even unknown in his own era. In the 1980’s it was Keith Willis. In the 1990’s Jason Gildon occupied that role.
The Steelers drafted Gildon in the 4th round of the 1994 NFL Draft and even as a rookie he got reps in the rotation behind Hall of Famer Kevin Greene and legend Greg Lloyd. In his first two years, Gildon only started one game, but amassed 5 sacks. During the Steelers 1995 season Kevin Greene himself said that Gildon was ready to go.
Gildon took over as the starter in 1996 and kept a strangle hold on the position, holding off challengers like Mike Vrabel. By the time he left the Steelers after the 2003 season, he’d amassed 77 sacks, which stood as a team record until James Harrison broke the record in 2016.
How Gildon is Representative of the Cowher Era
In the 1990’s the concept of “Next Man Up,” was a bit different in Pittsburgh. Before Heinz Field opened Steelers struggled compete in free agency. So they’d have to draft with any eye towards replacing starters whom they knew they couldn’t afford. Such was the case with Jason Gildon and Kevin Greene.
Who was Willie Parker?
Dan Rooney Jr. saw Willie Parker in college and urged the Steelers to give him a chance. They did. He finished his rookie year by authoring his first 100 yard game, closing the Steelers 2004 season with a win over the Bills.
A year later Jerome Bettis was almost literally passed him the torch in the season finale. Next Parker was seen galloping for 75 yards in Super Bowl XL, setting a record that stand today. Parker played through the 2009 season, earning another Super Bowl ring along the way.
Dick LeBeau and Troy Polamalu in December 2012. Photo Credit: Jason Bridge, USA Today.
LeBeau rose to defensive coordinator in 1995, helping guide the Rod Woodsonless unit through to Super Bowl XXX. A year later in 1996 he’d again lose his best defensive player, Greg Lloyd, on opening day but the Steelers still fielded a dominant defense.
LeBeau returned to Pittsburgh in 2004, helping the Steelers field the NFL’s number 1 defense. In 2005 he got his first Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl XL as his unit held the Seahawks to 10 points and produced a critical turnover that set up the Antwaan Randle El to Hines Ward game-icing touchdown.
How LeBeau Symbolizes the Cowher Era
Dick LeBeau is emblematic of the Cowher era in a number of ways. First he was a key architect of a defensive scheme that dominated the NFL for two decades. He was also someone who left only to “come home again” a tendncy which began in the Cowher era and has continued.
Steelers training camps is finally here. The excitement emanating out of St. Vincents is palpable.
And for good reason. Omar Khan authored another aggressive if unusual off season, which led to the draft… followed by 2 months of rumors, stories and scenarios about a Brandon Aiyuk trade that hasn’t and likely never will materialize.
In other words, finallysomething that matters is happening again.
Now that the Steelers have arrived in Latrobe and are practicing again, albeit without pads so far, let’s challenge one of the key narratives that has guided this off season.
Two safeties @ St. Vincent’s. Photo Credit: Steelers.com
Namely, that the Steelers are in “Win Now” mode.
“The “Khan Artist” Revisited
One year ago today, Omar Khan has almost achieved cult hero status in Steelers Nation. After watching his wheeling and dealing during the 2023 NFL Draft, Mike Tomlin himself dubbed him “The Khan Artist.”
The praise was well earned. Khan had taken a failing 2nd round pick and transformed him into the 32 pick of 2023, who turned out to be none other than Joey Porter Jr. He traded up to get Broderick Jones, and made more moves to ensure the Steelers still made 4 picks out of the top 100 players.
And this came after one of the more aggressive free agency efforts in franchise history.
As argued here earlier in the off season, the Steelers Way remains alive and well. No, they’ve never done an end-to-end house cleaning of their quarterback room the way they’ve did in February.
But as explained at the time, the Steelers have a long-standing tradition of bringing in high-profile quarterbacks to supplement or challenge shaky starters.
Russell Wilson’s first Steelers press conference. Photo Credit: Post-Gazette.com
You can read about it here, but in a nutshell Russell Wilson arrived in Pittsburgh following in the footsteps of David Woodley, Tommy Maddox and Dwayne Haskins, among others. Kenny Pickett was the independent variable, and he’s holding a clipboard down the Turnpike for a reason.
The Steelers other moves, such as moving on from failing starters and making an occasional splash free agent signing were as aggressive as they were precedence (Look up Kevin Greene Jerrol Williams if you’re curious.)
You’ll find that much the same is true about the rest of the off season moves if you take a step back from all of the click-driven hype.
The most telling piece of the off season lies in what the Steelers didn’t do.
After the Diontae Johnson-Donte Jackson trade the Steelers didn’t make a major move at wide receiver. Sure, they did restructure Alex Highsmith’s contract showing that a potential deal might have in the works, but they never pulled the trigger.
And when that deal failed to materialize, the Steelers didn’t reach for a wide receiver in the 2024 NFL Draft. Nor did the Steelers hop around from round to round during the draft. Instead they let the draft come to them.
The Khan Artist followed the Kevin Colbert’s playbook.
In the process, the Steelers continued doing what they’ve done for the last year: Adding “foundational players” and preserving draft capital. This is the exact opposite of an “All in on Winning Now Philosophy.”
Now, that doesn’t mean that the Steelers can’t win now.
“They” say hindsight is 20/20. My grandmother, Bloomfield born and bred who raised her family in Baldwin swore by what “They” said. Our family said goodbye to her 25 years ago but we still joke about Grandma’s unwavering confidence in the wisdom of “They.”
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some decisions that the Steelers franchise made that looked reasonable at the time, but 20/20 hindsight revealed to be wrong.
A sight Steelers Nation should have never seen. Photo Credit: X
1. Involving Noll’s Assistants in the Draft Evaluation Process
The Steelers dynasty of the 70’s was founded on dominating the draft.
Tim Rooney and Dick Haley in Steelers 70’s Draft War Room
And Pittsburgh’s system worked perfectly. Art Rooney Jr., Bill Nunn Jr., Dick Haley, Tim Rooney and the other scouts would set the draft board and Noll would make decisions based on those boards. Sure, Noll had to be talked into drafting Franco Harris, but the fact that he allowed himself to be swayed proves it worked.
In 1976 the NFL moved the draft from right after the Super Bowl to the spring.
On paper the move should have allowed the vaunted Steelers drafting organization to sharpen its edge even more. The change had the opposite effect. In general terms, it allowed Noll to micromanage the draft process. Specifically, it allowed Noll’s assistants to get more deeply involved in the evaluation process.
As Art Rooney Jr. wrote in Ruanaidh, some of Noll’s assistants were good. Others either didn’t take its seriously or were up to it. Thus the Steelers went from winning 4 Super Bowls in the 70’s to going .500 in the 80’s.
2. Counting on Terry Bradshaw’s Return to Full Health
You know the drill here. Elbow problems surfaced for Terry Bradshaw in early 1983. He had surgery. He promised to be back. The Steelers counted on that, and passed on Dan Marino and drafted Gabe Rivera instead.
Yeah, bad idea.
Even if Bradshaw could have bounced back to full health, he clearly wasn’t going to play more than a couple-of-three more seasons. Drafting Marino doesn’t necessarily equal another Lombardi in the 80’s or early 90’s, but not doing it was a mistake.
3. Forcing Tom Moore Out and Hiring Joe Walton
Tom Moore and Bubby Brister at Three Rivers Stadium in 1989. Photo Credit: Locallife.com
And they did it despite and offense that ranked 28th in a 28 team league.
After the season was over Tom Moore was nudged out under pressure from the front office. To replace him, Chuck Noll hired Joe Walton.
At the time, letting Moore go didn’t seem like such a bad idea. And although Walton had failed as a head coach, he was still seen as having a good offensive mind.
Walton’s offenses under-achieved in Pittsburgh for 2 years. As Merril Hoge once explained “Joe Walton came in and it wasn’t a good fit for the offense. Tom Moore had us drilled… we were young, our offense was starting to come around, and we had to start over.”
This decision doesn’t get talked about much for two good reasons. First, the Steelers really didn’t have the salary cap space to resign Kevin Greene. Second, because Jason Gildon was a pretty good player. (Greene himself said in the Steelers Digest during the Steelers 1995 season that “Jason’s ready.”)
But Kevin Greene went on to play for 4 more years, amassing 52 sacks before retiring after 1999. Jason Gildon had 31.5 sacks during the same time period.
In short, Greene was a great while Gildon was only good, and who knows, had they kept Greene through 1999, maybe the Steelers find a place for Mike Vrabel.
5. Not Finding a Place for Rod Woodson in Pittsburgh
Rod Woodson can’t stop Terry Glenn in his final game as a Steeler. Photo Credit: CBS Sports.com
Ooh, does this one still hurt. Rod Woodson famously tore his ACL in the Steelers 1995opener. He returned for Super Bowl XXX but was far less than 100%. He returned for a full season in 1996 but and, having turned down a contract extension the previous summer, reached the free agent market in the spring of 1997.
The Steelers did make him another offer and pressured Woodson to accept it. Rod declined.
The Steelers were concerned he could no longer be an elite corner, and Tom Donahoe and Bill Cowher balked at Dan Rooney’s suggestion of moving him to safety due to other injury concerns.
After two more years at corner for the 49ers and the Ravens, Baltimore moved him to safety, where Woodson would make four straight Pro Bowls at safety including Super Bowl apperances with the Ravens and Raiders.
Mike Vrabel strip-sacks Drew Beldsoe to seal the win in he ’97 AFC playoffs. Photo Credit: Christopher Horner, Tribune Review
Few saw this one as a mistake in real time. The Steelers had drafted Mike Vrabel in 1997 as a defensive tackle, and he played well in spot duty, helping the 1997 Steelers seal a divisional playoff win over the Patriots with a strip-sack of Drew Bledsoe.
The Steelers asked Vrabel to lose weight and move to outside linebacker.
Vrabel complied, but the injury bug hit him hard in subsequent training camps, preventing him from staking a claim to the starting outside linebacker role. But by the time Vrabel reached free agency after the Steelers 2000 season, Joey Porter had exploded for a 10.5 sack first season as a starter and Jason Gildon had 13 and a half sacks of his own.
But Gildon only had 2 good years left in him, while Mike Vrabel went on to become a multi-purpose superstar for the Patriots, helping them win 3 Super Bowls.
When the Steelers resigned Harrison in the spring of 2017, it seemed like a no-brainer.
Bud Dupree was slow to develop and hadn’t T.J. Watt yet. But they did draft T.J. Watt. Then, during spring workouts linebackers coach Joey Porter mentioned that the Steelers would not use a rotation at outside linebacker. Next, James Harrison was held out of practice for much of training camp.
That was derided as “click bait” but when the season arrived, Harrison played sparingly. And as we now know, he was not happy. The Steelers ended up cutting Harrison right before Christmas, Harrison signed with New England and added two sacks to his career total.
It doesn’t matter whether it was the coaches or the front office that decided to keep Harrison on the roster, if they were going to keep him they should have had a plan to use him, even as a situational pass rusher.
8. Replacing Todd Haley with Randy Fichtner
My good friend Matt C. Steel over at Steel City Insider would disagree that this looked like a good decision when it was made. And from an X’s and O’s perspective, he may be right.
Randy Fichtner & Ben Roethlisberger prior to Steelers 2015 game vs 49ers. Photo Credit: AP Gene J.Puskar, via Yahoo.
And Fitchner was close with Ben Roethlisberger, he’d been with the Steelers since 2007 so he knew the personnel. It seemed like a logical decision. It was not. Fichtner’s offenses were too rudimentary and too-dependent on Ben Roethlisberger’s arm.
9. Retaining Matt Canada after 2022
Feel free to groan and roll your eyeballs back into the deepest reaches of their sockets. Many fans and members of the press pronounced this to be a bad idea when it happened.
So I’ll have a healthy portion of humble pie to go along with my crow. But take a step back and look at it as Mike Tomlin and likely Art Rooney II did in January 2022.
During Matt Canada’s first season as offensive coordinator, he had an aging franchise QB who was bad fit for his system, playing behind an offensive line held together with spit, bubble gum and duct tape.
During his second season as offensive coordinator, he had a re-tread first round quarterback in Mitchell Tribusky and a rookie in Kenny Pickett playing behind an offensive line that was being rebuilt. Once that line gelled and once Pickett settled in, the offense showed signs of life.
Alas, Pickett couldn’t carry any of his momentum into 2023 and its taken the offensive line a half season to find its moxie.
(Dis)honorable Mention – Cutting Franco Harris
This one doesn’t make the official list, because in terms of raw football Realpolitik Franco Harris’ 160 yards on 62 carries with the Seattle Seahawks suggest that the Steelers made the tough decision but also the right decision.
In his autobiography, Dan Rooney admitted to wishing he’d opened his wallet for to keep Franco in Pittsburgh. So does the rest of Steelers Nation.
But Steelers History passed a critical milestone at Acrisure Stadium.
T.J. Watt became the Pittsburgh Steelers all-time sack leader.
T.J. Watt sacking Deshaun Watson. Photo Credit: Matt Freed, AP via San Diego Tribune-Review
Let’s repeat: T.J. Watt became the Pittsburgh Steelers all-time sack leader. Let that sink in for a moment. We’re not talking about the Houston Texas, or the Los Angeles-Anaheim-St. Louis-Los Angles Rams.
We are talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This is the franchise that has defined defensive excellence for three generations. This is the franchise that gave us the Steel Curtain and a generation later gave is Blitzburgh. This same franchise who had a member of their defense set the record for the longest run in Super Bowl history.
The Steelers were the first, and only, football team to have its defensive line featured on the cover of Time Magazine, back when that meant something.
Effective defense in the NFL goes way beyond getting after the quarterback, but you’d be wise to start there.
So just how does T.J. Watt’s accomplishment stack up in terms of the Steelers larger legacy? Let’s take a look:
Before diving into the stat sheet above, let’s offer a big shout out to my friend and staff writer Tony Defeo. When the Steelers cut Woodley, Defeo put his accomplishments in context by calling out how Woodley had led the Steelers in sacks per game.
The totals above include Woodley’s full body of work, but if you look at Woodley’s career from his debut to the 2011 win against the Patriots, he averaged 0.8 sacks per game.
That was an incredible accomplishment, but Watt is beating him by a mile.
First, the numbers reveal how the modern game has evolved. While each member of the original Steel Curtain makes this list, only Holmes is in the top half. Dwight White, L.C. Greenwood and Joe Greene are in the middle. Jack Lambert and Jack Ham aren’t anywhere to be seen, with Andy Russell only eking his way in at the bottom.
Bud Carson and George Perles’ defense didn’t need to blitz often because the NFL didn’t handcuff its defensive backs before the Mel Blount Rule.
Second, you can see the difference between great Steelers pass rushers and those who were truly special. The great ones sacked the quarterback somewhere between 40 and 50% of the games. Get beyond that, and you’re truly at an elite level.
Fourth, there’s an additional metric for differentiating players on this list, and that’s players with forced fumbles. Sacking the quarterback is critical, but so much more meaningful if you can knock the ball out while doing it. (Just ask Alex Highsmith and Deshaun Watson.)
Unfortunately data isn’t available for members of the original Steel Curtain or 1980’s stalwart Keith Willis. But it does show us that players like Jason Gildon and even Lamarr Woodley weren’t as dynamic, while driving home the fact that guys like Greg Lloyd and James Harrison had innate playmaking ability.
Finally, and not surprisingly, T.J. Watt leads the field here too – by a mile. This guy sacks the quarterback in almost every game and causes a forced fumble in just under 1/3 of his games.
My take away? Man, I’m glad T.J. Watt is a Pittsburgh Steeler.
The Pittsburgh Steelers closed out their 2023 preseason with a 27-0 rout of the Atlanta Falcons on the road. I tuned in at the tail end of the 1st quarter just in time to see the 17-0 as the fade to a commercial began.
And of course, the German-Irish Catholic in me resisted: “This is too good to be true.”
But it wasn’t. 17-0 turned to 24-0 before the half. At that point my attention shifted to dinner but by the time I checked the score again before bedtime the Steelers had authored their first preseason shut out since 2009.
Yes, the Steelers were near perfect against the Falcons and its not too much of a stretch to apply this characterization to the rest of their 2023 preseason.
But, if it is, “Only Preseason” what does it mean?
George Pickens makes a Lynn Swann worthy catch. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Understanding Preseason Perfection Means Focusing on Form Rather than Deed
Perfection is something you seldom associate with pro football. Things rarely go as planned. Particularly in the preseason. My first live Steelers game came in August 1990 at RFK Stadium in Washington during the preseason. That night Joe Walton’s offense was in such disarray that my father, a complete football neophyte, remarked “Those guys didn’t know what the hell they were doing.”
Joe Walton and Louis Lipps in 1991. Photo Credit: Getty Images, via Sporting News.
33 years later their successors couldn’t have offered a starker contrast.
Several figures from the stat sheet paint a picture of perfection:
Kenny Pickett went 4-4 in the process of leading 2 touchdown drives
The Steelers didn’t throw an incomplete pass until Mitch Trubisky failed to connect at 1:54
Each of the top three running backs scored a touchdown
Five players from the Steelers defense recorded sacks
On the Falcon’s lone trip into the Red Zone, the Steelers forced and recovered a fumble
Impressive indeed.
Impressive enough to remind me of Kevin Greene’s remarks following a dominating win over the San Diego Chargers during his first year in Pittsburgh when he exclaimed, “This is like the WWF, or something.” (The WWE was known as the WWF back then.)
Yes, Greene’s comment does apply to the Steelers 2023 preseason performances, and that’s a bit of a double edged sword. That win over the Chargers marked one of several moments where Bill Cowher’s squad flashed that it could be something special. Yet, when it was all said and done, harsh reality was that 1993 Steelers were not ready for prime time.
But based on what we’ve seen in preseason, for however else the ’23 Steelers season ends, we won’t saying about this team. And it’s not because of the numbers that the Steelers put up against the Falcons – Mike Tomlin was playing his starters while Atlanta rested theirs.
Pittsburgh was supposed to dominate this preseason contest. And they did. But once again it was the way that they did it.
To understand, look no further than T.J. Watt’s sack:
Watt not only gets through 2, maybe 3 people to reach Taylor Heinicke, but he wraps him, twists him and slams him to the turf with the intensity that you’d expect to see in the 4th quarter of a playoff game.
Strange as it may seem, that may not have been the best play on the drive. One snap before that Elandon Roberts set the tone:
The Steelers haven't had an ILB that makes tackles in the backfield like this since Ryan Shazier was on the roster. Elandon Roberts is a heat seeking missile. pic.twitter.com/gMLk4Yntt2
To paraphrase my friend and colleague Neal Coolong, when the defense opens a game authoring plays like this, they’re establishing who is the _____ in this relationship.
This translation of desire into domination wasn’t limited to the defense. The offense made its contribution:
Najee Harris’ touchdown was nice, but his 12 yard run that set up the score was all about 2nd effort
Not to be outdone, but Jaylen Warren imposed his will on his 8 yard touchdown
Ditto Anthony McFarland. His 31 yard run was nice, but he scored his touchdown with grit
At the end of the day this was “only preseason.” And preseason can be misleading.
Last year the Steelers were undefeated in the preseason and then started 2-6. The 2016 Steelers went 1-3 in preseason and reached the AFC Championship. Looking further back, the 1988 Steelers started 3-1 in preseason and then finished 5-11, which was and remains the franchise’s worst record since the Immaculate Reception.
So here is what to make of this:
1. The Steelers have spent the 2023 excelling when they’re supposed to excel, i.e. against backups
2. They’ve also looked strong against the Bills’ starters
3. They’re backups have responded to fast starts with strong finishes
4. Throughout the Steelers have played with determination and sound execution of the fundamentals
So yes, if you’re a serious Steelers fans you should continue to say to yourself, “Its Only Preseason.” But it’s OK to do it with a smile on your face.
Living up to the Steelers’ rich history of outside linebackers is not easy.
Just ask Jason Gildon. When he left Pittsburgh following the 2003 season, he did so as the organization’s all-time leader in sacks with 77. Yet, when fans talk about Steelers’ legends at the position, Gildon’s name is rarely mentioned.
Sure, Gildon’s name might eventually come up when it comes to retired greats.
If you thought being Jason Gildon was tough, try being the guy who replaced him.
I’m talking about Clark Haggans, a fifth-round pick out of Colorado State in the 2000 NFL Draft.
Clark Haggans sacks Matt Hasselbeck early in Super Bowl XL. Photo Credit: Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images, via FOX News.com
Not only was Haggans a mid-round pick from Colorado’s second-most famous college football team, but he wasn’t even the most well-known alumni from that team — at least among Steelers players. For that matter, Haggans wasn’t even the most famous Steelers outside linebacker from Colorado State. Porter, a third-round pick in 1999, would quickly earn that distinction after becoming a full-time starter during the Steelers 2000 seasonand recording 10.5 quarterback sacks.
While Porter was quickly establishing himself as one of the best young outside linebackers in the NFL in the early-2000s, Haggans had to bide his time as a backup and special teams player.
It was as a reserve in 2002 when Clark Haggans had a bit of a breakout year and recorded 6.5 sacks.
This was Gildon’s penultimate season in Pittsburgh and perhaps paved the way for Haggans to ultimately succeed him as the starter on the strong side.
Haggans finally became the man on the left side in 2004. He would go on to start 13 games and tally six sacks.
Haggans’s best season came in 2005 when he posted nine quarterback sacks for the Super Bowl-bound Steelers. Haggans notched another 1.5 sacks in the postseason, including a takedown of Matt Hasselbeck forcing the Seahawks to punt on the first possession of Super Bowl XL.
But while that sack was huge, the holding penalty Haggans drew on tackle Sean Locklear early in the fourth quarter was bigger. Pittsburgh led, 14-10, but the Seahawks were driving and looked to have a first and goal after a pass from Hasselback to tight end Jerramy Stevens. Unfortunately for Seattle, Locklear, who was beaten badly by Haggans, was called for the controversial infraction. While that penalty will always be controversial in the eyes of Seahawks fans (Haggans may have also been offsides on the play — others will differ), there is no doubt it altered the course of the game.
Ike Taylorintercepted Hasselbeck moments later, and the rest is history.
Ike Taylor’s interception changes tempo of Super Bowl XL
Haggans started 61 games during his Steelers career and recorded 32.5 sacks. He departed following the 2007 campaign, as the Steelers made room for LaMarr Woodley, the next to carve his name into the Steelers’ history book of notable-to-great outside linebackers.
After playing four years in Arizona where he recorded 14 more sacks, Haggans finished his career with the NFC Champion 49ers in 2012 — his final game was a loss to the Ravens in Super Bowl LVII.
Clark Haggans, who tragically passed away on Tuesday, June 20th at the age of 46, will likely rarely be mentioned when fans talk about the Steelers’ rich history at outside linebacker.
But it’s certainly not an easy history to live up to, and it’s much easier to be an afterthought than someone who sticks around and carves out a nice little niche for himself at the position.
Clark Haggans may not have been a Steelers’ legend at outside linebacker, but he was far from an afterthought.
RIP to a man who did the position proud for the Steelers organization.
The Watch Tower has been dim for quite a while, but its lights shine again today with a focus on a major Steelers media figure manning up, making a story out of a non-story and draft war room nuggets.
Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. Photo Credit: Brandon Sloter / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images and The Athletic.)
Bob Labriola Mans Up
Dick Haley’s death marked the passing of yet another of the architects of the Steelers Dynasty of the 1970’s.
As Haley’s role in building four Super Bowl Championships doesn’t get the attention that Dan Rooney, Chuck Noll, Art Rooney Jr. and Bill Nunn Jr.’s roles do, the Watch Tower made an extra effort to soak up as much as possible from his eulogies.
So the Watch Tower reached out to Ron Lippock who seemed to have published the quote before, and the Steelers Takeaways author confirmed that the quote indeed had come from his 2012 interview with Dick Haley.
Lippock contacted Labriola, and to his credit the editor of Steelers.com immediately manned up:
It has been brought to my attention that some of the Dick Haley quotes used in a recent story came from an interview done by Ron Lippock for Steelers Takeaways. Here is a link to the complete interview:https://t.co/Mye0CEMwwF
Rampant content stealing is a depressing downside of the digital age. Often, if not most of the time, it it’s not a question of who has the idea, the insight or who is breaking news, but who has the ability to push it to their followers. Rarely do those who engage in that behavior recognize it let alone apologize for it.
Bob Labriola, who assuredly made an honest mistake, acknowelged it immediately and made things right. In doing so, he set an example for all of us. Good for you Bob.
Mitch Tribusky Staying with Steelers – The Non-Story of the Century
Art Rooney II does his annual State of the Steelers sit down with the press after the season is over, and he rarely, if ever, speaks after that.
But the flip side is that the Steelers President isn’t coy.
Yes, he is guarded with his words. But if he says the Steelers are leaning in certain way, expect his lieutenants to follow in that direction. After the 2009 season he said the Steelers need to run better. And guess what? The Steelers ran better in 2010. In January 2017 he said the Steelers would probably draft a quarterback, and sure enough they picked Joshua Dobbs.
Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Omar Khan, Photo Credit: Nola.com
When Omar Khan spoke to reporters at the NFL Combine a month later, reporters asked him if Tribuisky would be back, Khan confirmed he would, and the exchange spawned dozens (if not hundreds) of stories from both bloggers and the professional press alike.
But you’d figure that the “story” would have ended with Khan’s comments.
Except it didn’t.
One month later reporters asked Mike Tomlin about Tribuisky at the NFL Owners Meeting, where Tomlin confirmed (again) that the Steelers were keeping Tribuisky. And again the exchange spawned dozens (if not hundreds) of stories from both the professional press and bloggers alike.
Each of the Steelers top three officials all confirmed that Mitch Tribuisky was in the team’s long term plans, yet somehow both bloggers and writers kept spinning yarns about scenarios that would see him leave Pittsburgh right up until Trubisky signed signed a contract extension.
Who knows? Maybe next off season reporters can try coaxing Khan, Tomlin or Rooney into saying, “Yes we’ll wear dark jerseys at home and white ones on the road next year” to see if that generates page views.
Donahoe’s Reveal on Steelers Draft Strategy in the ‘90’s
Tom Donahoe joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1986 as a BLESTO scout and quickly rose to Director of Pro Player Personnel and Development in 1989 before ascending to Director of Football Operations in 1992, upon Chuck Noll’s retirement.
Tom Donahoe, Tom Modark, Dan Rooney and Bill Cowher in the Steelers 1992 draft room. Photo Credit: Steelers.com
Still, Donahoe’s service to the Steelers from ’86 to until early 2000 make him one of the organization’s most informed insiders from that period. Yet, he’s seldom spoken about the organization since leaving.
Jim Wexell has changed that in a big way to the tune of a 4,301 word interview as part of research for his book On the Clock, the History of the Steelers Draft. Wexell shared the full interview with Steel City Insider subscribers last spring.
Any one of Donahoe’s 36 answers would suffice to earn Wexell Watch Tower kudos, but here’s an exceptional exchange:
Q: Did it hurt you guys economically not having the new stadium in free agency?
TD: It was a challenge. But we always tried to prepare for the guys that we thought were probably not going to be here to replace them. Maybe not to the same degree but we would at least have a player waiting in the wings where we wouldn’t have to just go out and buy a free agent. Although we did that the one year with Kevin Greene. He was a great pickup for us at that time. But Chad Brown was a tough loss.
Tom Donahoe’s answer might not qualify as “news” or a “revelation” for fans who suffered through those annual free agent exoduses during the 1990’s. But, to the Watch Tower’s knowledge, this is the first time that someone from the organization actually confirmed that anticipated free agent losses shaped the Steelers draft strategy in the 90’s.
And for that Jim Wexell earns a double dose of Watch Tower Kudos.
Do AI platforms pose an existential threat to sports bloggers?
A short while ago this question was laughable. Today? Not so much. The ability of ChatGPT and other AI platforms to answer complex questions with coherent, comprehensive responses in mere seconds is downright scary.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the owners of one or more “Content Aggregation” sites test the waters this fall by using an AI platform to produce post-game summaries and/or to synthesize articles using transcripts from coaches’ press conferences.
Jerry Olsavsky, Rod Rust, and Greg Lloyd in 1989, Photo Credit: Steelers.com
So if the “Content Aggregators” need be ware, what about those of us in the “mom and pop” Steelers blogging space? Meaning in those of us who strive to produce original articles and avoid (or at least minimize) content aggregation?
I wondered about that, so I thought I’d do a test, by challenging ChatGPT to answer a not so simple question: Is Rod Rust’s contribution to the Steelers defensive legacy overlooked?
If you’re sitting there asking, “Who is Rod Rust?” I suggest you be patient, and do anything but rely on ChatGPT for your answer:
Query posed to ChatGPT on Memorial Day weekend 2023
Wow. Where do we start?
ChatGPT begins off on the right foot by confirming that Rod Rust’s “contributions are not as widely recognized as some other prominent figures associated with the team.” That is correct. But of course we knew that – but what we’re asking is if that lack of recognition is justified or not.
Things go downhill after that. Fast.
Next, ChatGPT tells that Rod Rust served as the Steelers defensive coordinator from 1992 to 1994. This is wrong. Dom Capers was the Steelers defensive coordinator from ’92 to ’94. The next part of the sentence is even worse, where ChatGPT tells us: “His tenure coincided with a period of relative decline of the defense.”
Given that the “Blitzburgh” defense never won a Super Bowl (thanks Neil!) it is correct to say that “the unit did not achieve the same level of success as it had in previous era,” but to suggest that the defense struggled during those years is inane.
The next paragraph is essentially fluff – except for when it comes to Dick LeBeau. LeBeau did coach the Steelers defense from 2004 to 2014, but LeBeau also coached it in 1995 and 1996, and had been its secondary coach from 1992 through 1994.
Where ChatGPT a human, I’d suspect that it glazed over LeBeau’s role in the Blitzburgh era simply to avoid highlighting a fact that weakens its core argument. Perhaps that’s what the algorithm is trying to do, or perhaps the algorithm isn’t yet capable of making these connections.
Steelers Bloggers Not Threatened by ChatGPT – for Now at Least
Let’s agree that Rod Rust occupies a pretty obscure niche in Steelers defensive history. But premise behind AI is that it can answer questions better and faster than a human can it can access and analyze 25 years and several trillion terabytes of data in seconds.
AI failed this test miserably. Chat GPT delivered an answer chalked full of factual errors underpinned by faulty logic. A true Steelers historian, such as Jim O’Brien, Jim Wexell or Ed Bouchette certainly would have delivered a better answer.
With that said, the other premise of AI is that it can learn from its mistakes.
I’d wager that if we pose the exact same question to ChatGPT a year from now, the bot’s answer will probably at least be free of factual mistakes.
A Quick Word on Rod Rust
For the record, Rod Rust served as the Steelers defensive coordinator under Chuck Noll in 1989. Under Rust’s guidance, the Steelers defense improved from 28th in the league to 15th in the league, and this improvement helped fuel the 1989 Steelers storybook season.
Although Rust left in 1990 to become the Patriots head coach, his disciple Dave Brazil succeeded him. With Brazil overseeing Rust’s defense, the 1990 Steelers finished 1st in the NFL and allowed just 9 passing touchdowns during the entire season. Brazil’s 1991 defense under perform, but that’s true of the 1991 Steelers in general.
