Hines Ward: Steelers have no offensive leadership

Hines is on now with tunch and wolf and when bettis left he passed the torch to Hines and since then there is no veteran leadership on the offensive. He has a point. hard for the younger guys to look up to a guy like cothery when they have been there longer. he also said been wasn't going to be happy with anyone OC the steelers brought in cause of his love for BA

 

Real Steel, do you have a link?

 

Steelers radio? WDVE?

 

So did Hines keep the torch?

 

He's right.

 

That's kinda selfish of him it's all wards fualt!

 

Thanks, TTF!

Interesting interview. Ward laid it out. Just like he used to do to Ed Reed!

 

Lol nice

 

well how about max starks or colon or heath or ben? plenty of vets to grab the torch. none did.

 

Well, the organization took that from Max by trying to get rid of him for 3 straight years and having to bring him back.

 

Does it bother anyone else that Ben is still not widely perceived as a leader on offense? When he was younger I understand that Bettis and Ward were the clear leaders but now that Ben has some maturity on him I would have hoped that he would have developed into THE clear cut leader on offense like Manning, Brady, Rodgers, Brees, etc. Shoot, even RG 3, Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson have been lauded for their tremendous leadership abilities this year. Why do you think that Ben doesn't immediately come to mind when Steelers offensive leadership is brought up?

 

I think Heath led with his play on the field. Don't you?

 

Understatement of the year goes TOOOOOOOOOOO...... HINES WARD!!!! (cue the music while he walks to the podium to accept his award....everyone clap....)

 

Yeah! Too bad noone followed him!

 

Ben never fully matured, which is why he's not viewed as a leader. He still pouts when he doesn't get his way. He'll be viewed as a leader when he acts like one. Pouting because of an offensive philosophy change is not the sign of a leader.

 

There's leader in the locker room, and there's leaders on the field. Both are needed. What is needed the most is a guy that leads in the locker room and on the field. Joey Porter was that guy. Jerome Bettis was that guy. Hines Ward was that guy. I don't see that guy on this current team. People downplay the importance of it, but as someone who has played a lot of sports, I think it's very, very important. We just don't have that guy.

 

Looks like the same lack of leadership problem on the sidelines too. Players with the same blank stares at their Head Coach. Fact is players will inherit the same emotion and demenor as their Head Coach

 

Agreed. I wish Tomlin would let the leash off Haley. Let Haley explode, let him tear up one side of the players and down the other, let him bench some of our starters who aren't using to being benched. I've tried to watch Haley closely on the sidelines and he's not tearing into the players, he's not having his usual meltdowns. Haley isn't normally this reserved, which makes me think he's being held in check by Tomlin. We really need that passion and fire on the sidelines, and if it isn't going to come from Tomlin, it needs to come from Haley.

 

Ben has caused friction in the locker room over the years, even if he claims he's got his head on straight now with a wife and kid. Heck, even Ward called him out publically a few years ago. Throw in the lack of responsibility taken over the years for bad performance (and I don't consider a single "my bad" statement as a sound bite to be truly accepting responsibility- I'd want to see a response like studying more film), frequent perceived whining, and prima donna personality and I'm surprised he's got as much support as he does now. Blow up multiple years of opportunities to lead, you only get so many chances. He had the chance again with all the fresh blood this year and this was the most uninspired team I've seen in years.

There's plenty of blame to go around, and there isn't any leadership on the defensive side either. That's part of what happens when you let so many motivational veterans go at once, but these new kids just don't have the same commitment to a team and just want to be the weekly hot rod. It all adds up to no one wanting to or being able to lead, and I have a hard time seeing that change next year, particularly if we continue to bleed vets and the young bucks don't care where they play.

 

:goodpost:

 

Yeah, I wasn't sure when exactly Ward called him out, but he did at some point and that's what I was thinking of. Good for Ben if he's truly resolved his on and off-field problems. I am still holding my breath because the marriage and baby thing happened so relatively soon after bathroomgate that it felt scripted. That said, more power to him if he finally got his head on straight and all that's for real.

I still don't see signs he's actually trying to be a locker room leader, which the team so badly needs, but perhaps that too is in the making. As for studying film, I don't know how much he does, but I was using that as an example of something he could do to actively show that he really does see and desire to change his part in things, and not just an "I'm sorry" in a presser. I would rather see the post-game apologies translate to more action to fix the problems in whatever form that takes, because lately whatever he's done, visable or not, doesn't seem to have made a difference in those issues. Of course, it's not just Ben. I'd like to see the same thing from most of the players.

 

I think we all know that there's been a spark needed. I wonder if Pouncey might mature into that role. But one thing is for sure - you can't fabricate leadership. Somebody faking that kind of leadership just doesn't work.

HOWEVER

I also think it's still too soon to take Hines' comments without a pinch of salt. He is basically saying: they shouldn't have let me go.

 

I'll probably get flamed for this, since all the world loves Hines...... BUT does this strike anyone else as a self serving, attention grabbing comment by Ward?? Saying there is no leadership on Off does two things:
1) It's a shot a Ben who Ward seems to like to shots at. (See NBC interview before gamer vs Bal when Ben had concussion
2) It's another of him saying how great he is... This crap wouldn't happen if I was still here.

dDancing w/ the Stars, this dumbass cooking thing he's doing. I find it sad when aging athletes desperately seek to keep their faces in the limelight.