Steelers ownership receives brutal failing grade in recent NFLPA survey

The NFLPA has released the 2024 report cards for all 32 ball clubs, and there were some shocking discoveries. While teams like the Miami Dolphins received glowing endorsements with straight-A report cards from the players, the Pittsburgh Steelers have some explaining to do.

These team report cards are voted on by the players of each team. These players assign a letter grade to categories that include treatment of families, food/cafeteria, locker room, weight room, head coach, and others.

To our surprise, Steelers players did not hold back in the grades they assigned the team and facility this year. Three categories received a grade of an 'F'. Interestingly, this included ownership.

Pittsburgh Steelers ownership ranked 31st among 32 teams in the recent NFLPA survey. This certainly seems like an indictment on owner and team president, Art Rooney II. Unsurprisingly, the players gave a glowing endorsement for Mike Tomlin, who received an 'A' grade and ranked 5th in the NFL among head coaches.

The poor ownership grade seems to be an indictment on Rooney, and it probably has a lot to do with the poor grades across the board. As the owner, Rooney is responsible for investing money into things like the facility, the food for players, the training room, the locker room, and team travel expenses. Has he been cutting corners?

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk argued on 93.7 The Fan that it's time for Art Rooney II to 'look in the mirror' and talk to players to figure out what he can do better.

Art Rooney II must make changes for the benefit of the Steelers

It's clear that there is a disconnect between the players and the owner here, and this doesn't make for good PR. While some of us might think that these NFL players don't need to be pampered with a luxurious locker room or fine cuisine, the Steelers have to keep up with what the rest of the league is doing. If they are unhappy with the situation, they could lose the incentive to stick around when their contracts expire.

Some of this might be out of Rooney's control. The Steelers do share the facility with the Pitt Panthers football team, so this makes things tricky. Still, there's no doubt that there are steps Art Rooney II can take to help mend this relationship between the players and coaches.

In addition to receiving a grade of an 'F' for ownership, Steelers players gave the team a grade of an 'F' for the locker room and a cringeworthy 'F-' for the treatment of families. Art may have to pull out his checkbook if he wants to make things right with his players.