After reading the article you mention here is my take. Maybe it was possible that Tomlin didn’t feel that Coach Belicheets comments were out of line or untruthful and therefore had no reason to defend against them. Also there was a good chance that the Steelers could have played the Patriots later on in the playoffs and he didn’t want to give them any additional bulletin board material.
Collier’s comment about the hit being “thuggery” was a choice of words that evidently struck Tomlin the wrong way. Perhaps Tomlin interpreted it as racially insulting or perhaps just plain insulting. He might have decided to state his opinion on the comments to show the media where the lines are when talking about his players.
I guess my thought would be defending against the media vs. other teams are apples and oranges. Tomlin has said that he doesn’t like to give other teams "bulletin board" material and whenever you attack another team or make comments back to them you run the risk of saying something that can be interpreted as such.

I think this is a misunderstanding resulting from the different interpretations of the definition of the word thug, or the phrase “training camp thuggery”. To me Collier’s phrase was fairly innocuous. He did not use the word thug.

A thug is either a hoodlum, which has a criminal connotation, or it means a hired gun, a strongman. Anthony Smith is not a hoodlum. He may not be the brightest bulb on the squad – leave Hines alone Anthony, be weary of the media (see “guarantees”) – but what he is is young. He;s made some errors in judgement which hopefully he’s maturing from and will grow into a hell of a safety for us. He’s got world class veteran players and coaches to learn from, he better toe the line a little better and soon.

Anthony Smith is is a safety in the NFL, and if that isn’t the definition of a hired gun/strongman – I don’t know what is. Million$ of dollar$ to go out and literally strike fear into opposing players. You don’t think Ray Lewis, Jack Lambert or Ronnie Lot did exactly that many, many times?

The NFL has always had a rough edge. Its a violent sport, and Tomlin’s stated goal is to be the most violent team in the league. Tomlin wants Hines and Ben etc healthy, but he does not want anything to take away from the aggressiveness of this defense.

And I’m well aware that in the lowest common denominator of the popular sports lexicon that anything related to “thug” may be perceived to have racial overtones. Honestly, I don’t want writers of Gene Collier’s skill to write to the lowest common denominator. There is no racial connotation in the definition of thug:

From dictionary.com

thug – noun
1, a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber, or murderer

I think we can all agree that Collier wasn’t calling Smith a robber or murderer so the ruffian applies

ruffian – noun
1. a tough, lawless person; roughneck; bully

It was a non-contact drill, hence the vicious hit was lawless. So now parse the phrase “training-camp thuggery” and tell me what is wrong with it. It was not editorializing, it was an accurate description of the event.

And I’m really wondering who the “we” is that Mike Tomlin is referring to. Is he speaking for him and Smith? Or is he, as the head coach, speaking for the Steelers.

I really would have expected a more intelligent response than “We take offense to it”.

Well why?

Just a case of too much access and the internet preying on our preseason anticipation where we cling to whatever scraps we can.
Lot of other teams seem to have actually serious issues they need to work through.

From accounts it sounds like Anthony delivered a cheap shot. Hines was hit in a somewhat defenseless position, as he was not expecting a hit.

But didn’t Tomlin say Smith’s hit on Hines occurred during an 11 on a 11 contact drill? Or was it 7 on 7 NON contact?

While only a small percentage of people would openly admit that they are racist, everyone has tendencies and thought patterns that show that they are concious of race, whether it’s who they sit with in the cafeteria, which actors or actresses they like, or the words they use in different situations. Would Collier have called Eric Weddle or Mike Humpal a “thug” if they leveled a few people in practice? Possible, but I’ll bet readers would be more likely to think it an unusual choice of words, which tells me it has racial connotations or “inferences” subconciously associated with it. Reporters, as people who are writing to a large audience, should know when they are saying things that reveal their inner prejudices and avoid them. There are words that more precisely represent what Smith did (recklessness, situational unawareness, hot-headedness, stupidity, are-you-out-of-your-x%x#*x%x@-mindedness) than “thugery”, so for that to be the first word he found to describe Smith seems careless, both in precision of language and in revealing his subconscious implication.

Tomlin bringing it up is a whole other issue, though. I’d generally avoid getting into fights with reporters, but it was good to see him find some way to encourage Smith – to prove he still has his back. Obviously someone in the locker room saw the quote (and I’d bet Tomlin has better stuff to do with his time than reading Collier’s editorials) and took offense to it. As long as this doesn’t become a big distraction (like a drawn out fight about language and race), it will probably help build the team culture.

...then the golden rule is generally avoid the terminology. If you’re talking about the Ravens though…..or many ex-Bengals…... ;)

As hurtful comments go, I’d say that was pretty tame, but you never can tell how people might take something. Everyone has a different opinion. As BMF was saying there were other descriptive words that could have applied to the situation, but I doubt that “stupidity” would have insulted less. At any rate, the point was lost in the argument over the term, so obviously the writer failed in his goal of communication (although he may have succeeded in gaining circulation).

The point that drew my attention was (I believe) Smith’s statements that he had never been in trouble and that he was a good guy. To his mind (and also in definition) the term represents criminality – something that obviously doesn’t apply and that would get me riled up too. I take an incredibly low view of Smith laying out Hines, but would take an extremely positive view of Smith getting a chance to lay out Randy Moss. I guess I’m a thug.

I don’t see the racial connection, but that could be isolation from mainstreem U.S. society for 15 yrs. The term, I believe orginated in India, where there were a group of cutthroat thieves called the Thuggees (sp?) . I think it came into our language via the British colonization and spread from there. It’s used a lot in the UK and its never used to mean something nice, but usually drunken violence or thievery.

While I see the term as more of a descriptive of behavior rather than race, I still think I get Coach’s and Smith’s point that they don’t like him being called it. Good that he sticks up for the team. And with regard to Bellicheat, I agree on the bulletin board stuff…and I hope Smith gets the chance one day to live up to that promise.

on the preseason game on Thursday. Like other people said there isn’t much here. I don’t like Smith, but thats because of his play. He laid a cheap shot on Ward. He isn’t very smart. Remember when he high stepped the ball out-of-bounds in his rookie year. (Cardinals preseason).