There are always players and situations with those players that are difficult to discuss. Whether due to an off-filed incident or something that happens on it, you realize immediately that people see things from their own perspective. This is exactly what is happening with Pittsburgh Steelers’ Defensive Lineman Stephon Tuitt.
The Background
During this past summer of 2021, Tuitt’s brother was killed in a senseless and tragic hit and run accident. All of us have suffered loss and yet none of us can tell the other how to react or how to deal with said loss. Automobile accidents are often tragic and senseless but they happen and there’s little we can do about them. The Steelers knew of this and they knew that Tuitt was struggling.
Football Time
When the time rolled around in July for players to report to Training Camp, Tuitt was allegedly out of shape and was dealing with a bad knee. The knee was cleaned up and a mid-season return seemed most likely. As the weeks wore on however Mike Tomlin spoke less and less about him and gave fewer and fewer updates. If teammates were asked they gave little in the way of responses because they too just didn’t know what was going on with Stephon Tuitt.
The Fine Line
The perspective we have as human beings is based largely on our past experiences. If you’ve lost someone in an auto accident then you can relate and empathize much more than a person who has not. We’ve all faced the loss of a loved one so yes, we can all relate to what Tuitt has experienced on the larger scale. But the problem has become that we are trying to interject our own experiences into those of Tuitt and that’s where we get it wrong. It isn’t for us to do.
It’s natural for us to say “I don’t get that much time off to grieve the loss of a family member, why should he?” For starters, it’s none of our damn business. The Steelers operate how they operate and so does the NFL. If his entire absence from football this year was entirely because of his mental struggles to deal with this brother dying then too bad for us. “Why doesn’t Tomlin or someone else tell us what’s really going on?” Because they don’t have to and while that’s frustrating, it is what it is and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.
As I mentioned earlier this week in “Quick Hitters,” I learned that there’s a chance he just doesn’t want to play football anymore. One report suggested that he had actually gone back to Notre Dame to finish his degree months ago. Then today, the website steelersnow.com reported that there is a contract for Tuitt’s Pine Township home to be sold. The logic being why is he selling his home if he is still going to play? Tuitt wouldn’t be the first Steelers’ player to move in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. Ben Roethlisberger for example has done it and no one suspected him of leaving. Admittedly, the timing of it looks bad however.
This entire episode has led to a lot of nasty stuff online. Fans are questioning Tuitt’s commitment, comparing and complaining about their own situations and are laying blame on the Steelers too. This then elicits responses from those siding with Tuitt and from there the whole thing just takes off. What none of us should be doing is making any sort of judgments without knowing the truth. Once that comes out then do as you will when it comes to commenting for or against Tuitt. Until then, be very careful walking the fine line of the unknown.
