Are we a dirty team?

It's impossible to answer such a question objectively but I keep hearing other teams' fans talk about how dirty of a team we are. I will admit Mitchel seems like a bit of a head hunter and Foster comes in for late hits.

Obviously I'm a bit of a homer but I just don't see what other fans are griping about when they say "about time the Steelers got a taste of their own medicine".

 

I'm sure each Steelers player showers after every game. Although I don't follow every team throughout the year, I'm sure there are players on every team that are at least close to the line of being considered dirty.

 

Ward had the reputation of being dirty, as did Harrison. The fact that we still have Harrison makes other fans believe we are a dirty team. We're also a physical team and have been for a long time, which also helps breed the reputation.

 

If we are considered "dirty" now what were we back in the 70's?

 

no but we are playing in a dirty division

 

have you ever been to the city of Cleveland? filthy

 

i was meaning players from cincy and rats

 

I know. Glad Hardy went to the Cowboys and not one of those two teams. Suh as well.

 

"Dirty" is in the eye of the beholder, so it's not surprising other fans think we are.

I'd like to think we don't have players who go out to deliberately injure other players, but there's always a fine line between playing hard and breaking the rules. Plus, some guys end up looking like they play dirty just because they aren't that good (Mike Mitchell, case in point).

We've also got a long tradition of hard hitting defense, so that adds to it. AB kicking punters in the face doesn't help.

 

Nope,never!

 

It seems the Bengals like to use the "PITTSBURGH IS A BULLY" rallying cry and it's full on evident when they play that the goal is to out bully the bully as they say.

Every team had guys that do some things after the whistle to get a response. The Patriots did a lot of stuff in the pile if you believe Duce Staley and others.

The key is managing those idiots that take it too far. Where it becomes less than gamesmanship and more on the cheap shot/dirty line.

Many media and other fans considered Harrison a dirty player, but you had guys in the league defending him. (not pounding the pulpit due to his position with Goodell)

Mitchell could definitely be considered dirty, although he was much better this year.

Other than that, outside of some isolated incidents where teams can point and say "Look he hurt him! He's dirty!" I'd say not by a long shot.

You're dirty when you routinely take those extra shots just at the edge of the play intending to hurt someone when they let up. Grabbing and twisting ankles after the whistle. Kneeing downed opponents....

 

No, Our players play hard. They weren't head hunters.

 

People can point to Harrison, who was essentially the poster child for helmet to helmet hits for a couple years. He doesn't have the same issue anymore, so it's hard to call him a "dirty" player. Mitchell seems dirty because he talks mad smack after he lights someone up. IMO he is far from a dirty player tho. Cody Wallace is the only one I can really say is probably truly a dirty player. He's had a couple of rough PF penalties that have been pretty dirty (regular season Denver game was bad).

Any team that plays really physically will probably be labeled "dirty" by opposing fans... There aren't really dirty teams as much as there are a few guys that are really dirty players.

In short, no. I don't think we are a dirty team. We may have a guy or two who may toe the line, but we don't have anyone like Burfict or Suh on our team head hunting and stomping on people all through the league.

 

James Harrison plays clean, and he always has. Same with Hines Ward. You can be tough and kick guys' asses in a legal way, which is what they did.

Cody Wallace is a dirty player, absolutely.

 

Only to people that don't understand the rules and NFL. The people that say the league is getting soft after the Burfict hit and say we are dirty and bring up names likes Hines are hilarious. Everything Hines did at the time was legal by the rules but if he did it now? No. Harrison and the Steelers got drugged thru the mud and lost games for years fighting these bs rules and helmet to helmet hits and the league becoming soft. But now that the team has conformed to the new rules.. Teams and fake tough guys like Burfict want to pop up and play by the old set of rules.

 

As others have said above, I think that it goes back to Pittsburgh's roots of being a physical team. Physical and hard hitting football IS how Pittsburgh was identified as a team since the 1970s. And it was a good thing and perfectly legal and within the rules. They hit you hard and intimidated you. They beat you up (as did the Raiders of the 70s and Ravens more recently).

And those scars from the trauma and intimidation still linger on the fan bases of lesser teams like the Bengals. For years their team was bullied and physically beaten and they could do nothing about it. And it was all done within the rules.

Now since the game is evolving and safety is taking a front seat and the rules are being changed to reflect that, a lot of the old style physical play is against the rules. The way Pittsburgh used to play is now considered dirty. That's just the way it is but does not make the older teams who played under different rules dirty. But to fans of lesser teams.....like the Bengals.....they retroactively apply current rules to the old way that the game was played in order to justify their teams inability to match the physical style of play in days gone by and to label the Steelers dirty.

It's not too different from the 70s Steelers being labeled cheaters for their use of steroids. Not only were other teams heavily using in the 70s (little discussed fact...the Cowboys were just as steeped in it as the Steelers) but the use of steroids was not against the rules back then. But that doesn't stop other fans of teams who the Steelers routinely beat during that time (Cowboy fans included) from retroactively applying current rules to decades past teams to justify their team's ineptitude during that era.

As a result the current Steelers team, which has adjusted it's style of play to match the current rules, suffers from the reputation of past teams who played under a different set of rules. It also doesn't help that a lot of those scars are deep (Bungal fans are still salty about Carson Palmer) and fresh (Harrison is STILL on the team and Ward hasn't been retired too long). This also results in a zero tolerance attitude among the emotionally beaten fanbases that causes them to cry and label the Steelers dirty ANY TIME someone is hit too hard, whether it is worthy of a penalty or not.

As far as this current team being dirty? I say no dirtier than any other team. ALL teams have players that play on the edge and try to take the big shot and in doing so occasionally break the rules. And ALL teams have players who lose their cool. It's a physical and emotional game. Sometimes that gets the best of players regardless of who they play for. They're ALL human after all.

Also the rule changes are so recent that every single NFL player learned the game differently from the way that it is currently being called. And Im talking all the way back to elementary school days. Permanent change take a while and as a result the big dirty hits are going to continue until the next generation of kids learn the game differently.

 

As a result the current Steelers team, which has adjusted it's style of play to match the current rules, suffers from the reputation of past teams who played under a different set of rules. It also doesn't help that a lot of those scars are deep (Bungal fans are still salty about Carson Palmer) and fresh (Harrison is STILL on the team and Ward hasn't been retired too long). This also results in a zero tolerance attitude among the emotionally beaten fanbases that causes them to cry and label the Steelers dirty ANY TIME someone is hit too hard, whether is is worthy of a penalty or not.


Great point!

 

Just kidding Bobby, I read it and agree.

 

That's what I thought at first too. I have a short attention span.

 

I know. Sometimes I get on a rant. It's just me personally lately. Be glad you weren't my wife on our way home from dinner last night.

 

Rest assured that I'm quite glad that I'm not your wife. That would be awkward and I don't think I'd look good in a dress.

 

Never know!

 

maybe a black and gold dress since it would be slimming. ok now i have to go drink some beer, chop some firewood, and other manly things.

 

we are too soft to be dirty