FanPost

Rooney's need to step in

This crap with the fines, illegal hits and the back-and-forth between the Steelers' players and the NFL needs to stop. It's getting out of hand. There's no doubt that the frequency and amount of the fines levied against the Steelers, especially Deebo, are out of whack with other fines given to other players. How Deebo gets fined $75k for a arguably legal hit while players get fined $25k for fighting on the field (sans helmets!) is beyond me. Why players haven't been fined for purposely trying to hurt Big Ben or helmet-to-helmet hits against Ward is entirely BS.

So now the players are lashing out. Deebo is posting daily essentially challenging Goodell. Ward outright questioned the integrity of the league. Soft-spoken Troy has said the process is unfair. Ryan Clark is posting that the Steelers might as well make illegal hits since they get fined for legal ones. And now the Steelers are appealing to the NFLPA to investigate this entire situation.

As I said before, it's getting out of hand. It's a distraction leading into our biggest game of the year. It makes the Steelers organization look bad. It makes the NFL look bad. It makes everyone look bad. Simply put, Dan or Art need to step up and publicly say they will be handling this situation. Then they need to work with both sides to ensure it's done properly. The front office needs to tell then players to be quiet, concentrate on football and know that the organization has their backs. Then Dan (or Art) needs to tell the NFL to start enforcing the rules fairly, to quietly reduce the amount of Deebo's fines or they'll spearhead a movement for a change in leadership.

Frankly, I want this entire thing to go away. I'm tired of it. It's time for the Rooney family to tell both sides to shut up and play nice. Because right now this is an embarrassment to all parties involved. Steelers Nation is in such a fevered pitch about this that something bad is going to happen if the refs make calls - even if they're very close but correct ones - that cost the Steelers the game. So I'm hoping that someone from the Rooney family, the most respected in the NFL, steps up to put this fire out before it gets out of hand.

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