Doom scroll your way through social media and you’re bound to see comparisons between generations. Millenials vs Gen Z vs Gen X vs Boomers… All of these demographics have interesting pros and cons about them and the same can be said for fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last couple of weeks have demonstrated this, at least to me anyway, that the way we view the Steelers often has a lot to do with our age.
The Post Draft Hype
Let’s go back to the days following the 2025 NFL Draft. Personally, I don’t get into grading drafts. It seems silly to me to ‘grade’ something that we haven’t even evaluated yet, but it’s still remains a popular thing to do whether you’re Mel Kiper, Jr or a much younger Todd McShay. What I want to focus on here however is the hype around a sixth round pick.
Will Howard had a very nice college career at Kansas State. He then transferred to Ohio State for his final season and led the Buckeyes to the National title. Despite terrific numbers and that big ring on his hand, Howard was rated as only a fifth or sixth round prospect in the Draft. Typically, a QB with such a valuation would be seen as nothing more than a guy striving to be a career backup and spot starter at best.
Since the Steelers drafted him in the sixth round, the hyperbole around the young man has been significant and at times, ‘over the top’ in my opinion. Fans of every team think that the next QB drafted in the sixth round is destined to be the next Tom Brady. Do people realize how rare and unlikely this is? Howard has also been compared to Ben Roethlisberger. A social media post showed their final year stats from college and because they were so similar, fans immediately believe that Howard will go on to the same greatness.
I have to believe this is a generational thing isn’t it? To be clear, there are always exceptions, but it sure feels like most of the fans buying into the hype are the younger ones. This is likely the point where a young person refers to me as the “old man yelling at clouds’ and that’s fine. It is what it is however.
The Pickens Trade
We had heard for months that the Steelers were shopping the talented yet immature wide receiver George Pickens. When nothing went down during the Draft it was perceived that Pickens would be here for the 2025 season before leaving via free agency. Early last week, the rumors of his trade to Dallas perked up and within hours he was gone.
It seemed to me that the majority of the younger fan base was far more angered by this than was the older portion. Why was that? Is it because immature, self-serving behavior is tolerated more by the younger fans? Is it because they’d rather deal with the constant headaches of Pickens in exchange for his ridiculous catches? I honestly don’t know.
For myself and others of my generation (we can largely recall the 1970’s) the trade was welcomed. Again, like anything in life there were exceptions. I know several people who are friends and peers who didn’t like the trade and I respect those. While I won’t be convinced that this trade was the right thing to do for myriad reasons, I get why some fans are upset.
Generations always argue and disagree on just about everything but in the world of Steelers’ fandom we seem to be right down the appropriate demographic lines. I think it’s always been this way but it seems more obvious these days.
