The Steelers have become downright defiant in the two-plus weeks since the NFL cracked down on head-cracking hits against defenseless receivers.
From linebacker James Harrison to coach Mike Tomlin to president Art Rooney II, the Steelers have made known their displeasure with the league’s new approach. On Wednesday, safety Troy Polamalu joined in the chorus.
“It’s football, you know,” Polamalu told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “If people want to watch soccer then they can watch soccer. But, honestly, overseas when people are attracted to this game, they’re going to see the big hits, they’re not going to care about touchdowns and different things. So you’re also taking apart what attracts people to this game.”
Polamalu also believes that the Commissioner’s office needs some checks and balances.
"[H]e’s got all the power; that may be part of the problem, that there needs to be some type of separation of power like our government,” Polamalu said. “There should be some type of players involved in decisions over how much people should be fined or what they should be fined for, as well as coaches, as well as front office people.
“I don’t think it should be just totally based on what two or three people may say who are totally away from the game. I think it should be some of the players who are currently playing.”
Either way, Polamalu said that the Steelers’ players are on the same page regarding the league office’s new approach. “I don’t think there’s any confusion,” Polamalu said. “I just think the problem is that they’re wrong.”
Regardless of what Polamalu or any other Steelers player thinks, the reality is that they don’t get to make the rules. Thus, objecting to the new approach to protecting defenseless receivers has the same benefit as objecting to a touchdown being worth six points.
The management and coaching staff of the Steelers are doing the team and the league no favors by fomenting this rebellion. We realize that the Steelers simply want to win games and that they’ve built a team premised on hitting opponents hard, but the franchise for which Mike Webster played should have greater sensitivity to the league’s attempt to protect today’s players from a similar consequence.