Steelers coach Mike Tomlin rarely shows a soft side.
But yesterday’s loss to the Broncos left the hard-boiled coach emotional, which his players had never seen.
According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tomlin broke down when addressing his team in the locker room.
“There was a lot of emotion. I never saw him cry like that,” wide receiver Martavis Bryant said. “I cried, too. It’s just a hurt feeling. It’s just really hard right now. Because of the adversity we faced. It’s a hurtful feeling.”
“I’m glad I have a coach like that,” defensive end Cam Heyward added. “It hurts even worse, because he’s right in the battle with us.”
Tomlin has every right to feel an emotional attachment to this team, is it had to overcome so much to even get to this point.
His quarterback had to get shot up to play, he was without his best wide receiver, his top two tailbacks and his left tackle and center, and their offense got them this far.
That’s the kind of resilience it’s easy to invest in, and care so much about that it can move you.