More off-season fluff... Perspective...

So, this doesn`t really have much to do with anything, but I`m curious what other older(or younger) Steeler fans think of this observation...
Tonight, I changed my Steeler calender(Yeah, I`m couple days late...), to July, And, Maurkice Pouncey, is the "poster boy" for the month...
Lists his stats...
Born 7/24/89....
The same year I graduated high school!!!
Made me wonder if the reason I always "idolized" the older players, or looked up to them as role models/heroes, is because, they were "grown men", to me, as a boy in the late 70`s/early 80`s...
Now, I see the "kids", getting drafted to this team, and it`s just not the same..
Kinda like realizing that the centerfold in "Playboy", is young enough to be your daughter...
I guess, I will never have another STEELER "role model"...
But, it is still cool to me, to see players like Heath, or Hines come along, and realize, that they know what`s "important"(at least to an older generation of fan)...
And, I think it`s cool, that kids growin up today, still have some good players on our team, to "look up to"...
The Aaron Smith`s, Brett Keisel`s, James Harrisson`s, Ryan Clark`s Troy P`s etc....
Oh wait... where are the ones on offense?
Hopefully Decastro will follow in that mold... Maybe LeVeon Bell, Tyrone Wheaton(from what I`ve seen in his interviews).. Maybe Antonio Brown, will get back to where he came from...
I dunno...
I guess I am just saying...
It`s different for me now, watching 20 year olds carrying on the tradition, that I didn`t realize was set by 20 year olds, in the first place...
To me... They were MEN, when I was a kid...
Now, they are KIDS trying to uphold a tradition that was set by grown men.(Or so, I thought at the time)...
Kinda explains, why I`m not AS upset after the losses, as I was as a kid...
Priorities kinda fall into place, once you have a job to hold, and bills to pay, and all that...
But, make no mistake.. I STILL have a passion for the game in general, and our team, in particular.
I am just wondering, anyone else going/gone thru this transition, or am I just getting freakin` old!?!...
And, does anyone think, we are still putting players on the field that kids can look up to, playing for a team, that is different than the rest in the league?...
And, for the younger fans... Who do you look up to?
GO STEELERS!!!!

 

I feel your pain brother. I graduated 5 years before you did and the players back in the 70s when I first became a fan seemed like these larger than life mystical figures. Now they seem like, well, kids. But when these "kids" don the B&G they somehow take me back to yesteryear when the likes of Bradshaw, Swann, Harris, Greene, Lambert, et al were tearing up the league.

 

yEP... especially the ones like Hines, who believe in the "colors"... and would rather retire than play for another team...
Rare thing, in today`s game.
"The Black and Gold runs deep in me, so today, I will retire as a PITTSBURGH STEELER"... Hines Ward....(crying)...
and... my all time favorite...
"If I could do it all again, I would, and you can bet your ass, I would be a PITTSBURGH STEELER"(Paraphrasing, slightly, `cause I don`t remember the EXACT words)...
My HERO... JACK LAMBERT!!!!

 

Bleed...I graduated the same year you did and know what your talking about. Really, I think you have to keep all this in perspective. When you are a kid everything is larger than life. The street you grew up on, the town you lived in, the sports you played and, of course, the heros' you looked up to. Even the days seem to get short as I grow older. Really, I don't think the players change all that much from generation to generation. I think the game changes and how some of the players respond to it is what shapes what your seeing (I'm talking about how everything from the money to the rules have changed). I will say that it seems like when you do something for the pure fun of it (and not the money) you do it with more passion. Like I said, I think the game has dictated how we see players act. Having said all that, there are players that are throw back and they make the game worth it. In agreement with Jack, when these kids come to the Steelers they seem to be, atleast in my head, a little better than the rest and that is why I continue to love this team!

 

I hear ya, too, and just miss the "loyalty"...
I know free agency screwed that all up, but just once, in a while, you will see a player like Hines come along, and say..
"Ya know what?... It ain`t worth it".
Very rare, nowadays... And that`s what makes it special...
Think Ben will feel "loyal" when his last contract comes around?
I doubt it...
Even Peyton didn`t... he went on to make money in Denver.
Nothing wrong with that... Probably the best thing for his (former)team...(And not entirely his choice.. Why not make money, and contribute to a team, if you still can.)
Just different than the era I grew up watching...
I don`t judge.
Have no right to...
But, It still seemed wrong, to see Farve, play for the Vikings...
Kinda like if Ben went to the Browns...
Or Silverback, to the Bungles(Oops.. that happened..)..
Not really my point...
More about how the players are your kid`s ages... That`s just strange, when you grew up, looking up to "players", now, you wanna tell them when their "curfew" is......

 

I think at one time during the 70s dynasty, the Steelers were the ONLY TEAM in the NFL whose players had never been on another NFL team roster. That was pretty impressive. I wish we had that kind of loyalty today but I guess free agency does make the off-season go by a little quicker and definitely makes it more interesting. I'm glad we have the salary cap in the NFL and a halfway reasonable revenue sharing plan which makes every team pretty much equal competitors from a financial perspective. I guess as I've gotten older, I've started to appreciate the fact that the Steelers FO really knows how to run a franchise and the coaching staff that they employ knows how to get the most out of their players. That's what differentiates the good from the bad in the NFL, the front office and coaching, whereas in MLB you can literally go out and by a WS championship and then disband the team the next year. The day the NFL adheres to the MLB model is the day that I cease to be a fan.

 

yep, and I hate to say for me, I graduated 11 years before you bleed. most of the 70's I was playing JR. high and HS and college ball, so these guys were not a lot older then I was, but they seemed bigger then life. now they are my kids ages. OK my nurse is here and it's time for my sponge bath and oatmeal.

 

I graduated 14 years before you and, in Jr. high, I idolized the Chargers in general and one player in particular. (I just threw up in my mouth having to admit that!) After the "team" traded said individual, A 1st round pick just 3 years earlier, I saw the way the Steelers played and, more importantly, the way the organization was run. The fan loyalty, the player loyalty, the FO loyalty, and I got hooked on a team from a city that, until last September, I had never been to. I miss the player loyalties to their team but I understand it. As I've gotten older, the importance of the game has diminished (except when we win the SB) I'm not a fan of parity and, as for free agency, ask Daniel Snyder how well buying free agents has worked out so far.