It feels like the Pittsburgh Steelers are at the center of a joke they aren’t sure they are supposed to laugh at. But maybe some laughter can help cure the frustrations surrounding the franchise, if only by the smallest margin.
In his most recent Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, the star defensive tackle welcomed two of his defensive cohorts onto the show, fellow defensive tackle Keeanu Benton and edge linebacker Nick Herbig. While going through a rapid-fire series of questions, Heyward brought up the biggest talking point concerning the team, asking his teammates, “What’s happening with the quarterback situation?”
Benton answered first, saying, “I tried to bring something up on the slick, but I don’t know.” It appears that Benton’s answer was cut off as the camera cut back to a shot of him and Herbig.
Herbig tried to sound optimistic while failing to hold back a smile. “Tom Brady was a sixth-round, right? Old Big Ten guy, Ohio State guy. You know, we got Rudolph. You know, he’s always in the gun, in the slinger.”
At that point, the three burst into laughter while assuring each other they “like our options.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback situation is truly laughable
Naturally, these three know more about the situation than any of us discussing it on the internet. Whether they know more than they’re allowed to say is up for consideration, as well.
Ultimately, the Steelers' quarterback situation is laughable. The options appear to be Mason Rudolph, a backup that hasn’t been trusted as the starter, Will Howard, a sixth-round rookie with more moxy than arm talent, and Aaron Rodgers, a 41-year-old who is controversial off the field and unconfirmed to still be a Hall of Fame talent on it. Few, if any, teams have a worse situation to traverse in the coming months.
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And while Heyward praised his young teammates for not being “scary” about their answers to the question relative to what they might have said two years ago, the response does kind of go to show just how bad the situation is. Sugar coating it in a media setting is one thing, but acknowledging that you’re sugar coating it highlights the issue.
Ultimately, these players are right to publicly say that they like their options. If those are the guys you have to go to war with every week, you need to know your guys have your back and trust you to perform at your best.
That doesn’t eliminate the demand for the front office to come to a sensible resolution for this whole quarterback situation, though.