Losing the Faith: One Man's Migration Away From the Steelers and NFL

Nice post. I too lament the role of money and bad decisions and the direction of the NFL. Give a twenty-something 100 million dollars and of course some will make bad decisions (Ben R).

But this is life. Every profession has good people and bad people – Wall Street, Lawyers, Doctors, Senators, Janitors, whatever…

Nothing will change how I feel when the Steelers take the field and totally annihilate the Ravens on MNF, or winning a Superbowl, or watching former Steelers honored at halftime, or Troy making another out-of-this-world defense play. For many of us who have blood colored Black and Gold, this will never change despite the business side of the NFL, overtime rules, deebo getting held on every play, or the endless smack coming out of Baltimore. I live in Canada, and I routinely meet people from the ’Burgh who display their Steelers gear proudly.

Not all is bad in Steeler Nation, and nothing Ben or anyone else does will change my opinion of the Steelers. I’ve been watching them for 30 years and I’ve seen a lot of good and bad, but tell me that you’d rather have Al Davis than Dan/Art Rooney!

GO STEELERS!

what a man’s gotta do. /cliche

There are many things far more important to me than NFL football and the Steelers. Football is a diversion, a pastime, not an obsession. I know the game pretty well, and the Steelers in particular. I enjoy the history and sense of place inherent in rooting for a team. I enjoy the memories the black and gold conjure.

But I hold the NFL, and the Steelers in particular, to no higher standards than pre-bust Worldcom, Lehman Brothers, Enron or any of the other tarnished corporate nameplates proven unworthy of our trust and worthy only of prison time and massive shame. It’s a bidness, and a big one, and if it fouls itself I’ll look elsewhere for my leisure entertainment.

Extend that to professional sports in general. If you want to talk about love and respect of a game, please give me lower division college sports that don’t lead to ridiculously lucrative careers, huge returns to the schools, and ignorance of education.

I guess the NHL isn’t trying to be like the NFL……..

Interesting post. I agree with a lot of what you’ve said. Sometimes I find myself bored with the NFL game, as most teams run similar schemes and the made-for-TV format takes so much of the flow away. The college game is so much more exciting, from both a scheme and purity perspective (I know the college game is not “pure;” I’m just comparing it to the NFL), and I’ve even thought that if there is no NFL in 2011 I’ll just throw myself into watching college ball, go fishing with my son on Sundays and be none the worse for it.

But then I think about how much a part of my life the Steelers are, and of how, since I was 7 years old, my mood on every Sunday in the fall has been determined by whether they won or not, or at least by how well they played, and although it’s probably irrational to stake that much of my sense of happiness on something I have no control over, I’ve come to accept it as part of my reality. The NFL has changed so much over the years but what hasn’t changed is the passion of fan bases, ours in particular, and rational or not I’m infected with that passion. So yes, there are things that have disappointed me about both the NFL and the Steelers, but my advice to you, Carl, is to stay focused on the bigger picture. There will always be some selfish guys who sully the franchise, but the franchise will outlast them. As long as the Rooneys are in control, the Steelers will be a great team and a great franchise to root for. That’s the big-picture truth. The rest is just details. And if you get too caught up in the details you’re bound to be disappointed.

Can I ask if anyone on this board is perfect? Has anyone on this board not been in trouble before in their life?

You’re going to sit up here and tell me that in your entire life you’ve done everything by the book?

If not, then would you expect pro athletes to be this way? And if you think it’s limited to football, you’re just short-sided. It’s in all sports. The society we live in shapes these athletes. It’s not the 70’s or the 80’s anymore.

Everyone on this board listens to music artists who, I guarantee you, have done VERY questionable things in their lives. We watch television shows that are full of people that are truthfully a waste of sperm. But yet athletes are supposed to be better than all of these people. How hypocritical of us.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think that’s just a load of bullsh*t.

I’ll never lose interest in the Steelers. Period.

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Go Steelers! I hate Goodell too but my team is my team till they put me in the cold, hard ground.

I feel you, CWM. I think it’s awesome that we have a place like the internet to come and vent our frustrations, in this day and age we need it. I find it hard to disagree with the things you’ve said in this thread. And it’s not just football, the entire world is getting worse (by the second), while many people just continue to make excuses about it. My friends and I have had many a discussion lately regarding these kinds of matters. We are sick to death with the way the world has become (and the attitudes of most of the young, misguided people in it) and all of the police/government corruption, overmarketing of sex and violence, and the community’s virtual acceptance of it. The sad fact is, there’s not much we can do about it. I wish there were, I’d volunteer to help in any way I could. I already counsel young people (as a volunteer through my employer), work with the youth in my church, coach youth baseball, basketball, football and soccer and treat people with respect as much as possible (hard to do on the internet, with all of the trashy potty-mouths – my screen name conveys my feelings about the people on the internet).

All we can do is keep on trying to change the world one person at a time. I keep hoping that all the good things will someday again be important.

Keep the faith, brother.

But, as the title suggests, I’m migrating away from it. No one expects athletes to be perfect, but with all of our imperfections most of us are not criminals. The Steelers were never a perfect franchise, but I always thought they were just a teensy bit more respectable than most other franchises.

In fact, the wonderful folks here at BTSC have done a lot to keep me interested: despite the anonymity of the internet, most posters here are intelligent, respectful, and passionate about the sport and the team. I would like to include myself in that group, and my only point is to say that recent events (last several years) are lessening that third component.

then I have to question just how much of a fan you were in the first place.

Just my humble opinion.

I love the Steelers but I’m wondering how much longer it will take before pro football has about as much consistency as the 75-cent bread at Wal-Mart.