skeptik
Member
- Feb 7, 2003
- 24,413
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The Steelers always look at themselves as underdogs (and I never said anything about the playoffs specifically). Not underdogs to themselves, but underdogs in terms of the perception of them by the media and fans. Obviously you guys know nothing about the way the team internally operates. The Steelers are a team that regularly exceed low expectations and fail to live up to high expectations. In 2004 they were ranked 26 in the preseason, 22 to start the season. By week 10 they were ranked number 1 and didn't lose a game since week 2 until the AFC championship game against the Patriots, during the timeframe in which they were known to be cheating, of course. In 2005, they went into the year ranked 5th. By week 14 they fell to 13. In 2006, they were ranked 2 and gradually fell to 24 by week 13. Last year, they were the number 1 team entering the season, only to finish barely over .500. This year, they opened week one at 18. They were supposed to finish around .500 and place third in the division. Now they're in the Super Bowl.
Apparently you don't realize this, but what players say to the media and what players say in the locker room don't always add up. Publicly, it means nothing to no Steeler player what anybody says in the locker room. Inside the locker room, it is added motivation. Rarely does it actually come out publicly (it actually has this year more than most years, with Tomlin getting in a couple of nice jabs in some press conferences earlier in the year), but when it does, it's usually from a teammate backing up another, like when Ike Taylor recently said something to the effect that Roethlisberger will tell you that it doesn't mean anything, but that he knows it motivates Ben when the media tells him that he's not among the elite quarterbacks. I say that the Steelers thrive in the us-versus-them mindset better than any other team because I see the way that they perform when they are in that mentality, so I base it on what I see. As I said before, I speculate that this is due to the closeness of the locker room, a locker room that I believe is somewhat unique in this era of the league, especially since the advent of free agency. There's a reason that the Steelers brought back former locker room leaders (and there's a reason that they wanted to come back as well) such as Antwaan Randle El, Larry Foote, Byron Leftwich, and Bryant McFadden this year. There's a reason that Flozell Adams has embraced his Steelers teammates more than he ever did his teammates in Dallas. It's because, from the Rooney family and head coach Mike Tomlin down to practice squad players like Tyler Grisham, the Steelers have the closest knit, familial locker room in the league that is built on leadership and longevity and is able to quickly integrate new pieces into the family without diminishing the locker room. In turn, they fight for their teammates more than any other team when their backs are against the wall because it's more of a slight when their teammates are attacked.
The team is so close that they have synchronized their martial arts.
This picture was taken immediately after LaMarr Woodley recorded his 10th career postseason sack in his 6th career postseason game, btw, which is the fastest of all time. He also has the longest streak of postseason games with a sack, with 6.
Apparently you don't realize this, but what players say to the media and what players say in the locker room don't always add up. Publicly, it means nothing to no Steeler player what anybody says in the locker room. Inside the locker room, it is added motivation. Rarely does it actually come out publicly (it actually has this year more than most years, with Tomlin getting in a couple of nice jabs in some press conferences earlier in the year), but when it does, it's usually from a teammate backing up another, like when Ike Taylor recently said something to the effect that Roethlisberger will tell you that it doesn't mean anything, but that he knows it motivates Ben when the media tells him that he's not among the elite quarterbacks. I say that the Steelers thrive in the us-versus-them mindset better than any other team because I see the way that they perform when they are in that mentality, so I base it on what I see. As I said before, I speculate that this is due to the closeness of the locker room, a locker room that I believe is somewhat unique in this era of the league, especially since the advent of free agency. There's a reason that the Steelers brought back former locker room leaders (and there's a reason that they wanted to come back as well) such as Antwaan Randle El, Larry Foote, Byron Leftwich, and Bryant McFadden this year. There's a reason that Flozell Adams has embraced his Steelers teammates more than he ever did his teammates in Dallas. It's because, from the Rooney family and head coach Mike Tomlin down to practice squad players like Tyler Grisham, the Steelers have the closest knit, familial locker room in the league that is built on leadership and longevity and is able to quickly integrate new pieces into the family without diminishing the locker room. In turn, they fight for their teammates more than any other team when their backs are against the wall because it's more of a slight when their teammates are attacked.
The team is so close that they have synchronized their martial arts.
This picture was taken immediately after LaMarr Woodley recorded his 10th career postseason sack in his 6th career postseason game, btw, which is the fastest of all time. He also has the longest streak of postseason games with a sack, with 6.
