When it comes to your Pittsburgh Steelers news, buy local

Being the deputy editor at Behind The Steel Curtain, I am searching for Steelers’ news a few times an hour throughout the day. Whether it be scrolling through Twitter or searching on Google, I’m always trying to stay up-to-date with the latest breaking news for the black and gold. I’m sure many of you all do the same. But it’s grown increasingly frustrating over the last few weeks.

With a bigger name and greater name recognition, national media outlets are able to get their message out to a wider audience as their algorithms make their information more relevant for those not knowing specifically where to search. Unfortunately, the opinions of said media often are out of touch with what is going on with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A prime example may have been just around a year ago when everyone had an opinion on what was going on within the Steelers organization. With Antonio Brown being disgruntled and wanting a trade, the national media decided to lay the blame in various places. Not knowing what was really going on within the organization, much of this blame has been disputed based on what has transpired since.

Not very long ago, a story on NFL power rankings by Bleacher Report stated the Steelers had no answer for who would play cornerback opposite of Joe Haden. Obviously, they hadn’t paid one bit of attention to the Steelers in 2019 as Steven Nelson did not get nearly the accolades he deserved. This statement went to show that those who are not specifically following the Steelers really don’t have a clue as to what is going on or how the team operates.

But the terrible takes by the national media did not stop there. ProFootballFocus’ Mike Florio suggested the Steelers would be in the market to trade for Le’Veon Bell to return to Pittsburgh. While some fans also want to see this as a possibility, between having the equity to trade as well as being able to handle the salary, it just does not seem like a move the Steelers would be likely to make. It wasn’t an incorrect assumption like with the Nelson situation, it just did not take into account how the Steelers do business.

Then Bleacher Report was back at it again suggesting the Steelers need to move on from Ben Roethlisberger. The $25 million cap hit should be of no consequence as he could save $8.5 million on the salary cap. And of course, Ben is washed up because he didn’t play in 2019 due to injury. While I can’t say that every Steelers’ fan disagrees with this, the majority of the clear-thinking ones have to see right through the problem. Once again, it is the report from a source that isn’t very in touch with how things are going in Pittsburgh.

But the story on Roethlisberger from Bleacher Report didn’t die there. On the FoxSports show “First Things First,” Chris Canty stated, “I’m sure there are some people in the organization that are praying that Big Ben decides he’s going to retire.” While many who criticize the statement left of the words “I’m sure” out of what Canty was saying which takes away it being his opinion and makes it sound more like a report, it’s still one of those takes which shows the national media has no idea what’s going on in Pittsburgh. It also didn’t help that Canty went on to say— twice— that Roethlisberger had Tommy John surgery. While the Steelers haven’t confirmed Roethlisberger’s procedure with exact detail, it has repeatedly been reported that it was not Tommy John surgery.

With all of these interesting takes on the Pittsburgh Steelers lately, it just reinforces what I have known for a while: The national media does not know what’s going on in Pittsburgh. Since I began at Behind The Steel Curtain, I have not watched national NFL programs who are offering their commentary on the Steelers. The only time I turn on ESPN or other various sports networks is to view a sporting event. If I want news that is accurate about the Steelers, I’m looking for those who follow the team directly. And with the technology age we are in, these sources are right at our fingertips as long as we choose to use them. While the local reporters on the Steelers are not perfect (see the conflicting reports of the Steelers search for a wide receivers’ coach as an example), they are leaps and bounds ahead of the news from most national coverage sources.

Hopefully your source for accurate an applicable news for the Pittsburgh Steelers is right here at Behind The Steel Curtain. We do our best to compile complete and accurate news as well as provide commentary for discussion. And like many of you, we also roll our eyes at some of the statements made by those who think they know what the Steelers are thinking.