It's no fun to gloat just because the Steelers aren't the team making headlines for the wrong reasons

When news broke Friday afternoon that Robert Kraft, the 77-year old owner of the Super Bowl-champion New England Patriots, was arrested and charged with solicitation in a prostitution sting in Jupiter, Florida, the first thing I did was post a link to the story on my Facebook page.

Why? I’d like to say it was because it was just a big story. I mean, the owner of the recently-crowned NFL champion caught and arrested for soliciting sex? That’s crazy.

Unfortunately, I didn’t post the story because it was newsworthy (at least that’s not the entire reason). I did it to mock the Patriots. I did it in a “Ah ha! Screw the Patriots and their Super Bowl title!” kind of way.

More than any other reason, I did it because the feeling I had when I first read the story was relief, relief that it wasn’t my Steelers in the news for one negative reason or another.

After an hour or two of relief and an “Ah ha!” or three, I didn’t like feeling good just because the Steelers weren't front-and-center in the non-football-but-football-related news of the day.

The Steelers used to be thought of as an organization of class. The “Steeler Way” was the best way. Of course, that perception, that persona, wasn’t exactly accurate—even way back in the 1970s. But at least Pittsburgh had such a reputation, and at least there was a lot of tangible evidence to back it up.

Thankfully, there’s still plenty of tangible evidence to suggest the Steelers are a class organization that consists of many great individuals—I always say, for every bad apple, there are dozens of good eggs that make up the Steelers 53-man roster each and every season.

But the reputation of the Steelers these days is one of a circus. Head coach Mike Tomlin is often depicted as a clown on social media. Fans are still calling for his firing in late-February, even though the chances of that happening are slim and none, and slim just left the arena.

Every Steelers quote, social media picture/post and behavior is placed under the microscope for all to dissect, with the common diagnoses these days being acute dysfunction—just another virus for, as BTSC legend Bryan Anthony Davis likes to call them, “Team Turmoil.”

Even general manager Kevin Colbert isn’t immune to catching such viruses anymore, thanks to his ‘52 kids’ quote from his media session last Wednesday.

To be fair to the Steelers, in this day and age of overreactions to just about everything, people often—but shouldn’t—equate controversial quotes, poorly-worded Tweets or even sideline outbursts (I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, of all of Antonio Brown’s recent transgressions, his tossing of the Gatorade bucket on the sidelines in Baltimore in Week 4 of the 2017 season was probably the least egregious—that stuff happens all the time during the course of an NFL game) with someone getting arrested for sexual solicitation.

Just because Antonio Brown clearly has issues as of late, that has nothing to do with him attending the NBA All Star game or dying his mustache yellow—that stuff was endearing when he was smiling AB, and business was boomin’.

Are the Steelers often unfairly targeted with negative media attention these days? I think so, with the reactions to Colbert’s quote being a prime example. Having said that, the Steelers mostly have themselves to blame for their new reputation. Much like their old reputation for being classy and above reproach, there is plenty of tangible evidence of dysfunction hanging around the franchise.

Even though I now realize the old “Steeler Way” was mostly a myth, I’d like to see that reputation return.

More than anything, I’d like to see the old championship reputation return.

Bragging about the Steelers owner having one less arrest than the Patriots owner isn’t nearly as much fun as bragging about the Steelers having one more Super Bowl.