Steelers News: Steelers, and other Pittsburgh athletes, doing their diligence to avoid social media pitfalls

With all of the Steelers’ 2019 offseason workouts in the rear view mirror, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ fan base has to suffer through the dog days of summer until the boys of fall return to the gridon. In the meantime, don’t think the news surrounding the black-and-gold is over. As the team disperses for the summer, we continue to provide you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over until training camp!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at how the Pittsburgh Steelers, and other Pittsburgh athletes, are doing their homework on how to avoid social media pitfalls.

Let’s get to the news:

• Fans today want to hate on players and their social media use, but it is still so infantile compared to the years before social media. Could you imagine Joey Porter with a Twitter account?! The Steelers, and other Pittsburgh teams, are trying their best to avoid social media pitfalls.

Pittsburgh athletes trying to find ways to avoid social media messes

By: Jonathan Bombulie

In the era of social media, every professional athlete’s phone has the potential to cause a worldwide firestorm with a few swipes of a finger.

The Pittsburgh Steelers found out as much during a tumultuous 2018 season. Other teams have learned the same. The social media platforms that have brought fans closer to athletes than ever also have created more than their fair share of problems for teams and their players.

Before delving into what organizations are doing to avoid social media missteps, it’s important to examine why athletes are drawn to this particular form of communication in the first place.

The first reason is chemistry.

According to multiple scientific studies, every time a person receives a “like” or positive comment on social media, it triggers a release of a chemical called dopamine in the reward pathways of the brain. It is the same neurotransmitter associated with the response to things like food, exercise, sex and drugs.

To say athletes are addicted to social media is not an exaggeration.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Defensive lineman Lavon Hooks has been with the Steelers for a while now, but never on the 53-man roster. This year he want to avoid the Steelers’ practice squad.

At 27, Steelers DL Lavon Hooks works to avoid practice squad

By: Chris Adamski, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

He’s the most experienced inexperienced player on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster.

Because he has not appeared in a regular-season game or spent a day on the regular-season roster, Lavon Hooks is considered a first-year player.

Funny, because four prior NFL training camps and 15 preseason games suggest he’s anything but that.

Hooks will be closer to 28 years old than 27 by the time he reports to Saint Vincent for the fourth time July 25. His SEC background (two seasons at Ole Miss) and size (6-foot-3, 310 pounds) are NFL-caliber.

But four consecutive years, when it’s come to cut-down day the first Sunday in September, Hooks has been an odd man out.

There’s reason to believe this time will be different.

“It’s a weird spot,” Hooks said after a minicamp session at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex last month, “but I still feel confident, very confident, this year as far as earning a spot on the team.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Bud Dupree hasn’t lived up to the fans’ expectations as a first round draft pick, and he is hoping to change all that in 2019.

Dupree’s scary power: ‘He actually broke the punching shield’

By: Hunter Homistek, DKPittsburghSports

You don’t wanna catch hands from Bud Dupree.

”He actually broke the punching shield we were using. It literally exploded.”

That little nugget comes from Rich Cantolina, Dupree’s personal boxing trainer here in Pittsburgh since Dupree arrived on the scene in 2015. After being selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, Dupree generated massive buzz around the city, with fans eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next great Steelers outside linebacker.

Cantolina was among those interested.

”The day we drafted him in the first round, like a typical Yinzer, I immediately went to his social media to see what the buzz was around this guy,” Cantolina was telling me. “I stumbled across a video of him hitting a heavy bag. So I commented on that video saying, ‘When you get to Pittsburgh message, me and we can work on those hands.’ “

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Social Media Madness