Bell, Brown, Bryant

Think about these three for a moment and tell me what you think about our team's chemistry when these are inarguably our three most talented offensive weapons. Do you think team player? Leader? Unselfish? Team before me? Do these three make you think about Bettis, Ward, Miller and other great Steelers of the past? Let's go back even further and insert the names Harris, Swann and Stallworth. Sure these three have a wealth of talent, but I would argue that they are bankrupt when it comes to the intangible leadership qualities it takes to win Super Bowls. IMHO, a lack of leadership from the player ranks, especially on the offensive side of the ball now that Ben has checked out mentally, is our primary issue at this point.

 

In my opinion the chance that you could have a team concept was blown up by Bell's no show. It was the opportunity to have everyone buy into the one team concept and it was lost. Now it seems to be about feeding the separate personalities on the team. One team that plays to win not to grab stats or keep guys happy.

 

I do not think Bryant is that talented. Just IMO. A poor man's Mike Wallace dare i say. Ben for sure has checked out

 

I posted a rant about this same thing about 15 minutes ago titled "It started with the holdout". Couldn't agree with you more.

 

I disagree, I think you give a real x's and o's coach this team and you see some fireworks. Right now Haley is throwing crap at the wall just trying to keep guys happy. You got playmaker that are being used as window dressing to getting AB his 5 for 50.

 

I can see that, but i just have a bad feeling he has regressed...the play calling is not doing him any favors you are right about that

 

Selfish, Diva, Burn-out....here comes #7!

 

not to mention bryant can't break a tackle to save his life. literally has no physical play that i can see. for his size he should be able to shed smaller corners

 

Looking back at some of the low lights and I don't like to blame refs but there was some full on Seahawks mentality defense going on. Jesse was getting mugged beyond the 5 yard chuck zone. Guys getting obstructed on their routes. Just a general they won't call everything so let's just play them tough and see what we get.

 

Hamilton did better. Everyone talked smack about him though. Hamilton also played with heart.

 

These men are nothing but divas... which serves them to a certain extent, but their actions, tantrums and etc and proven just that.

 

The hatred towards Bell is mind boggling. The guy had a contract dispute, it happens all the time in sports. Past Steeler greats have had contract disputes too, yet they are loved on this board. Bell does his job on the field and nothing else. He isn't the diva that Brown is, not even close. You don't even hear about Bell off the field.

And if you think lack of leadership from these three is our problem then you haven't played any real sports. First of all, there's always leaders in every locker room. Sometimes it's your star players, sometimes it's not. For many years, the Maple Leafs biggest leader was Tie Domi, an enforcer. Meanwhile, their star player (Mats Sundin) was a very quiet guy who didn't like to speak out. The Steelers have leaders in the locker room. It doesn't appear to be Brown, Bell or Bryant, but that doesn't matter.

 

I don't hate Bell, but I think he's a very selfish player who is already a free agent seeking a Powerball payday in his mind. Ben's thinking about retirement, Bell's thinking about his "17 mil" AB's thinking about his stats. Not sure I even want to know what Bryant is thinking about. At any rate, here we are in week 5 and it doesn't appear that anybody is focused on winning football games and truly thinking about the TEAM.

 

Well there was the bonehead suspensions. If it was JUST the hold out it would be one thing.

I have a feeling Ben dislikes Antonio. All of Ben's buds from previous years are gone(Heath, Keisel, Colon), he is probably thinking to himself WTF am I doin here?

 

Ben checked out the minute he mentioned retirement

 

I don't think the problem was the contract dispute. I think it was the way Bell went about, on facebook making comments, whether supposedly joking or not. Then not showing up at all till a week before the first game. You don't
think that was a problem? I do.