Apathy is Truly Setting In

I'm wondering how many others are starting to feel the way I am.

I've been a lifelong Steelers fan, I'm 45 years old. I remember when I would never miss a minute of a Steelers game no matter what. I noticed this year I'm okay if I'm not sitting in front of the TV right at kick off. If I have something to do I'll just turn on the radio in the car. If it's truly important, I'll go ahead and do it without a fuss and not worry about watching the game until I get back home, but I still would try to be home before the end of the first half.

Them bringing back Tomlin and being okay with no playoff wins in 7 years doesn't sit right with me. This team is not likable. And if they don't cast a wide net in the search for an OC and just hire from within I'm honestly damn near at my breaking point.

I've never been super invested in the other NFL teams so I probably won't jump ship to another team, but until they start winning I'll be out.

I legit sit there and watched a national media broadcaster lambasted Mike McCarthy for not performing in the postseason. Mike McCarthy has won a super bowl more recently than Tomlin, has won a playoff game more recently than Tomlin and his playoff record is better than Tomlin. I don't understand why Tomlin is not held accountable. That turns me off as well. If this owner doesn't think that it's necessary to make changes, I don't feel it's necessary for me to endure the frustration. If I'm wrong and they win, I feel like I have the right to jump back on the ship and honestly I will. But for me , it's time for them to prove it...prove they can win,prove they're making the right decisions and I'll be back. Until then, I'm just going to kind of watch from the sideline. Again, I'll reiterate... this is all dependent on if they bring in someone from the outside for OC. I didn't want Tomlin back, but I can live with it as long as they make some serious changes and actually do the right thing and bring in the offensive mind that they need. If it's just business as usual, I'm out.

 

The Steelers themselves are clearly apathetic.

 

Bye Felicia.

 

I can’t believe how upset I got on Monday night watching this wash, rinse and repeat cycle. I guess my stupidity got the best of me thinking that this playoff game would be different somehow. It’s probably a good thing I ran out of beer when I did or I probably would have been very hung over on Tuesday. Wife thinks I get too worked up over these games and I’m starting to agree with her. Nothing will change so long as MT is in full charge. They could bring in the biggest OC genius and I guarantee Tomlin will still handcuff him.

 

I'll see Scribe and raise you a .................... .

With your Dear Diary words (OP), you ain't got it. We're all frustrated but not about to jump ship. Many of us have been true Steeler fans a lot longer than you and have suffered through decades of drought but that won't change our love and allegiance to this team, no matter what.

 

FA will bring us a bottom feeder washed up QB and we will draft a useless punter in the first round. Somebody please wake me from this nightmare.

 

They probably won't be bringing in anyone, they'll just promote Faulkner to the position permanently

 

Yep. Tomlin likes to put his thumb on the pulse of this team including all coaches. He can’t be outsmarted in any sense of the organization.

 

I hear you, nothing much else left to focus on at this point. We already know that Tomlin ain't going nowhere

 

I hear you. Rooney doesn't seem to really care either,

 

Which would be remarkably easy to do.

 

I got blinded by my loyalty. Sometimes I should just let it go.

 

Stay forever loyal (like H Ward would!). Never let go unless and until they're smacking you in the face with a shovel. After that you'll be so busy shaking hands with all your friends "down there" that none of this will matter.

 

i'm more upset that Tomlin and company will likely be back than losing to buffalo.. i thought at least with another playoff loss, we'd finally go a different direction. i know we were underdogs, but it's been 7 years now.. time for a new era.

 

The board was full of people saying how awful the team was, it’s not a play off team, etc etc

Then people are upset when they lost the Bills game.

Like you, Blast, the loss was disappointing (especially given the Steelers showed they could have hung with them without the turnovers). Bit a win would have been a big plus rather than an expectation.

 

In the words of my favorite fictional character... "apathy is death". However, she also said "to truly believe an ideal, is to be willing to betray it". The first quote is showing how the apathy is killing your fandom. If you're mad, raving, ranting... you're still passionate in the same way that others that cheer and overhype the status quo. The second you start becoming apathetic, the desire/passion is gone. Same could be said for the organization. The second we become apathetic to failure and push the status quo, the more we hurt and hinder the future of the organization. The second quote is in direct reference to the organization. The Steelers "ideal" is that we are a first class organization, built on winning and stability. However, if we truly believe this, we have to be willing to betray the stability aspect in order to attempt to achieve the winning again. We've seemingly rebranded "winning" to mean "not-losing" instead of "winning in the post-season". Is it a betrayal of the "Steeler ideal" to fire a HC (and one that has been reasonably successful for his career) and upset the stability in order to pursue a new beginning? Sure it is. However, if we do, we can achieve the same stability with someone new and usher in a new era of winning and stability. Let's rebrand "winning" back to what it used to mean. Is there a risk? Yes. But if we truly believe in our ideals, we have to be willing to take action to try to mold it again.

I agree that this team is not "likable". There really isn't much substance to the team at all. We have a once great coach that has been floundering, a revolving door of terrible coordinators on both sides of the ball, we have a young QB that has failed to meet expectations, we have very little leadership in the locker room (and we aren't getting that injected from the coaching staff in its stead), and an overall air of arrogance that follows the organization as if it is still 2008. We just feel behind the times, repeatedly trying things that worked in NFL yesteryear while the "cutting edge" minds in the league pass us by.

The national media just loves Tomlin. I've almost never heard a negative thing about the guy outside of the Pittsburgh media. McCarthy is nearly a carbon copy of Tomlin. A guy with a lot of regular season wins, a SB win early in his career, and a lot of playoff disappointments since. The main difference being that McCarthy has a couple losing seasons, but he also has double the playoff wins the last 13 years. Yet, they get treated differently. What excuses get made for McCarthy? They talk about the "playoff choke" that comes every year with him, but after every playoff loss the Steelers have all we hear is how lucky we are to have Mike Tomlin and how ludicrous it would be to want to try our luck with someone else at the helm. We get to hear that not having a losing season is amazing and how hyped we should be about that, but the NFL is about winning after the regular season (especially in this city). This fanbase is longing for a playoff win, and is starting to tune that sh*t out. Put up or shut up time.

IMO Tomlin has a LOT to prove going into next year. Prove to us that you can change your ways. Prove to us that you can assemble an NFL caliber coaching staff. Prove to us that you can win the big game after week 18 in today's NFL. Prove to us it all that your "greatness" isn't just a mirage of times past. Prove that we should have had your back all along. I'll have no issue admitting it if he does, but until that point I'll believe it when I see it.

 

I'm 66. I'm a lifetime Steelers Fan not a fan of any other sports. I have the logo tattoed on my right arm with Just Plain Nasty around it.

I used to be all jacked up and would go wild when watching our Steelers. Those days have dwindled. The same as it ever was and has diminished my enthusiasm. I watch with very little emotion. My stress level has been better which is a positive. This team is not worth it.

Some will give you shat about feeling this way. I won't. I will watch as I have for years but again without any expectations.

I do like what Khan and Weidl have done with their first season and hope they can continue. Its the coaching and the dated scheme that is a concern.

We shall see what transpires in 2024.

 

You’re not quite old enough to remember the 70’s and the transition into the 80’s. The 80’s were brutal for every fan and we didn’t get real relief until the early 90’s. Then that was the absolute worst nightmare for any real Steelers fan to lose to the Cowboys. Then we lived through another 8 years of pain. It’s the way the league is, one team can’t win every year or there would be no league. There are teams in this league that have never enjoyed any type of success. We as Steelers fans have become spoiled and have raised expectations very high. Can you imagine being a Chiefs fan from 73’ till MaHomes arrived a few years ago? Teams have to put themselves in a position (playoffs) and then hope they peak at the right time and avoid injury. NE went undefeated then lost the bowl, it happens. The Bungals have struck out three times. 4 years ago they were calling for Harbaugh’s head in Baltimore. We will find the right QB and then all will be right with the world. Don’t listen to all the crying and complaining cause it don’t help. It’s a sport and it doesn’t always go your way. The morons you read on here that have all the answers the next day are just that. Look at the Eagles fall from the sky, they will probably fire Sirianni, they just fired the guy that got them their Super Bowl for Sirianni. That’s shows you cannot over react. The coaching carousel never works. You think they will fire McVey, the nut from Miami? Nope, just work to fix it.

 

I moved to Pittsburgh to go to CMU in late 70’s and became a Steelers fan. I probably missed less than 10 games throughout 80’s, 90’s till 2012 probably. I lived in Michigan for 27 years and never became a Lions fan. Now I think, I like the Lions team more than the current Steeler team. Except for four or five individuals, the team is filled with narcissistic, unlikeable players. I couldn’t care less for George Pickens, Diontae, Trubisky etc. and their attitude. I don’t care about Tomlin and his playing concepts of ‘splash plays’, ‘going back to the lab.’ Etc. Most of all, I hate the hero worship of Tomlin and his mediocrity.

 

I'm tired of being tired. With the exception of Watt, the defense has been middling to down right bad the past 3 seasons.


I understand there has been injuries to the ILB's, but I'm not sure if they were healthy it would really be considerably better.

This defense has so many holes, it isn't even funny.

 

"Wake up honey, time for school. You don't want to be late for your first class! BTW, your Panthers lost again"
Be careful of which nightmare you want......

 

they are - longest tenured HC that has NOT won a playoff game , since 2016. We have more APATHY than any team in the league.

some here call it patience or stability - and that is one way to see it. but it is also comfort with mediocrity