If Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II were a student receiving these grades, his parents would be called and there would be an intervention. Overall, the Steelers ranked 28th in the National Football League. ARII also ranked 28th overall as well which is yet another sign that players are far from thrilled with him as their boss.
If the “school” needed to bring in “Little Artie’s” parents, this is likely what the discussion would have looked like.
Parent: “Why is little Artie getting such poor marks?”
Teacher: “Artie isn’t taking notes. He isn’t paying attention and he seems very content with his poor grades.”
Parent: “This is the same thing we heard about him last year!”
Teacher: “And yet here we are….”
The fact that the players gave the Steelers the same overall grade as the year before suggests that little has changed. Largely, that’s true but there were some improvements. Team Travel improved significantly from a ‘D’ to a ‘B+’ while Training Staff moved slightly from ‘C’ to ‘B-.’
On the flip-side were the strength coaches who finished dead last in the NFL, while the weight room finished 28th. This is honestly, the least surprising item on here. The Steelers desperately need a new facility. Let me say that again for the owner in the back… ‘THE STEELERS NEED A NEW FACILITY!”
Sharing facilities on the South Side with the University of Pittsburgh has been noble but it is not ideal and no longer works in a league that provides every possible perk for its players. Until ARII does this, the annual grades in these areas will continue to suck, for lack of a better term.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin finished with a grade ‘A’ which is also what he was given last year too. Quite frankly this doesn’t impress me and it raises a larger issue with me. I don’t want players to “like” the coach… I want players who respect the coach. I’m not sure this is the case in Pittsburgh where it seems “everyone wants to play for Coach T.”
At the end of the day these grades mean little. Even recent Super Bowl winners have graded poorly so there really isn’t a correlation that suggests you have to have good grades in order to be successful. That doesn’t mean the Steelers and ARII don’t have work to do because they do and the sooner they get started the better.
Maybe a trip to the Principal’s office would help.
