Have too many fans lost their joy for the Steelers?

I’ve had to spend a lot of time on social media the last few days. In order to stay up-to-date with the most recent information in the free agency market as to the comings and goings regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s the best place to get the information fast. Unfortunately, I’ve been reminded of why I try not to spend too much time in places like this.

The negativity can really weigh you down.

Whether it be on Twitter, Facebook, comments on YouTube Podcasts, or even (to a much lesser degree) our own comment sections here at BTSC, I’ve been made to feel any time I want to speak positively about the Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 season, or anything moving forward, I am told that everything is a disaster and I just need to accept reality.

Yes, in the midst of free agency when all the big-money players are getting signed and the middle and low tier players are still waiting things out, it doesn’t look good for the Steelers. But does it ever? It might just be that we’re in this snapshot of time rather than looking at the full length feature film. It’s not like everything is sunshine and rainbows moving forward with the situation the Steelers are in currently, but showing any kind of optimism towards the Steelers pulling through and fielding a competitive team in 2021 will get you shamed right off of social media for even implying this is possible.

In a recent podcast, I brought up the idea of how much fun it was experiencing the Steelers 11-game win streak to begin the 2020 season. Of course, I get ridiculed because those teams they beat “weren’t any good” and “their schedule is so brutal this year they’ll never be able to do it again” and comments such as these. Have we really reached a point that we can’t even enjoy any Steelers victory shy of a game played in February?

“This franchise is about championships.”

“Why are we lowering the bar by being satisfied with regular-season success?”

How about enjoying watching a Steelers game?

I would give anything to watch a Steelers game live right now. I’m not even talking about at the stadium, I’m just talking about a live sporting event of the Pittsburgh Steelers on my television this weekend. I wouldn’t even care if they were playing the NFC Pro Bowl team and were supposed to get smashed. I would just love to watch me some more Steelers football.

Instead, I get shamed for even mentioning any enjoyment which came in September through November this past fall.

Perhaps we are simply worn down after more than a year of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Perhaps seeing our beloved Steelers on the field this fall seems too far away to appreciate it now. Perhaps the future is not bright for this team with the exact make up they have as the 2021 league year kicks off as I am writing this article. Maybe it’s a perfect storm of all these things. Whatever is causing this influx of negativity, it’s not very fun.

It’s one thing to get ridiculed by fans of other teams, it’s another to get torn up by fans of the same team simply because you love and support your team.

For those who are frustrated with the Steelers lack of playoff production over the last decade and the length of time since they have hosted their last Lombardi, we all feel it. My son is about ready to turn 10 years old and he’s never experienced a Steelers Super Bowl. It’s disappointing.

But for me, I never experienced a Steelers Super Bowl that I could remember until I was a senior in high school. I never experienced a Steelers Super Bowl victory until after I was married. It’s just how it goes sometimes. But from as early as I can remember until that magical 2005 season, there were plenty of games to enjoy in between. And there definitely weren’t other Steelers fans tearing me down for actually appreciating those games during that 25-year span.

So I’m done worrying about it. If you want to be those people who can’t appreciate anything because it didn’t end in a complete perfect scenario, go right ahead. But I enjoyed the first three months of the 2020 NFL season, and I’m looking forward to the 2021 season to see what this Steelers team can do regardless of how they are able to fill up the roster between now and then. I’m going to put on my jersey, wave my Terrible Towel, and hopefully even get to wear my custom-made Kylo Ren Steelers helmet at Heinz Field this fall. If you want to be one of those fans who just wallows in their own misery because this team isn’t the odds-on favorite to win every game through the month of February next season, go right ahead. But I don’t have to listen to you anymore.