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The mainstream media loves to beat up on the Pittsburgh Steelers. They mention their loaded roster and underperforming track record, as if the Steelers were cellar dwellers in the AFC North.
However, the vast majority of these media members are fairly off base when it comes to the matters of the black-and-gold.
Before going any further, it should be noted not all of what they say/think is inaccurate. In fact, some of it can be spot on. Take the clip of Reggie Bush on Good Morning Football, on the NFL Network, last Friday as a perfect example.
In the clip, Bush talks about how the Steelers haven’t learned their lesson after last season’s embarrassing playoff loss to the Jaguars at Heinz Field, and how Antonio Brown reportedly saying he doesn’t want to catch passes from backup quarterbacks in Organized Team Activities (OTAs) as a sign of more of the same in Pittsburgh.
Check it out for yourself:
"I feel like the Pittsburgh Steelers haven't learned their lesson."@ReggieBush explains why the @steelers need to look to the past to take care of their future. pic.twitter.com/ifNLxpIh1C
— GMFB (@gmfb) June 1, 2018
Any fan of the Steelers who says Bush is 100-percent off base isn’t completely honest with themselves when it comes to their favorite team. The 2017 Steelers seemed to be gluttons for public embarrassment and punishment from the start to the finish of the season.
Whether it was Martavis Bryant tweeting at Sammie Coates after the team drafted JuJu Smith-Shuster, or Mike Mitchell and Le’Veon Bell predicting a win and looking past the Jaguars to the Patriots in the AFC Championship game.
It was a circus...a self-imposed circus.
Period.
However, just because Brown has chosen to workout on his own for the majority of OTAs doesn’t mean the fan base can expect more of the same in the 2018 season. In fact, some might suggest the complete opposite considering how bad 2017 was in this regard.
The Steelers, like every NFL team, have their issues, but it doesn’t mean these issues can’t be rectified. The organization has taken character into account the last few draft classes, and it likely was to avoid these type of distractions in the future which have befuddled the fan base on more than one occasion.
Some will always criticize the Steelers, no matter what, and it isn’t as if they are devoid of criticism, but let’s hold off on painting a picture of the 2018 team until the 2018 season actually arrives.