Should be A Wally Rule!

Ok, Mojo... Bitter, much?
I kinda get your point, but I`m not quite clear...
Maybe `cause I never hated Dick Butkus, or Lawerence Taylor, or Jack Youngblood, or other teams` "dirty players"...
Lewis is an exception to the rule. To be Honest, If he was a Steeler, I would probably defend him.
However, he plays for my most hated rival... the Original Clowns...
And I don`t have a problem with how he plays the game... If I was gonna complain about him, it would be the off the field stuff....
And I try to leave that out of the conversation, regarding ANY player, because I don`t know what`s true, and what aint...
All I can judge by, is what I see on Sundays.
Can`t remember the names of a lotta the old Raiders(the "assassin"?, etc), that I hated , just `cause they played for that team, but I loved the way they played the game.... Brutal, no holds barred... kick your ass football... just like us!!!
Same begrudging respect I have for the Cravens now... They wanna be us...
But Goodell is trying to eliminate that style of football.
So, I guess the difference between "Us" and "Them"(the rest of the league),
SHOULD be, loyalty to your team.
Nowadays, with free agencey, and players chasing the allmighty dollar, that aspect is pretty much gone.
Which just makes it more refreshing, to me, when someone like Hines comes along, and says...
"Ya know what? I`m rich enough already. I hold pretty much every important recieving record on my team. I have been the Superbowl MVP... I don`t need to cheapen that, by continuing to play the game, just to prove to myself, that I can... and, Oh yeah... The fans that paid my salary, don`t want me to do it, either..."

I love to see a player play their whole career with one team.
It just damn near never happens anymore, and if it`s with us...
All the better...
Still not sure what part of "Steeler Football", you don`t get.
Is it just a "myth", perpetuated by idealistic fans, like me, who think their team is better than the rest in the league?
Probably, to a degree... I know we ain`t saints(No pun intended), but I do believe that the Rooneys run their team a little different than the rest of the league(Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder, Art Modell, etc...)
Anyhow, if we aren`t different, or better, why do you root for us?
As far as Mike Wallace goes... More power to him to try to get those dollars.
I know we won`t overpay for anyone, and most of our money is already commited to other players.
We will find a way to give him a reasonable offer.
If he would rather get ridiculous money, than stay with a team that would give him a decent shot at a Superbowl Ring, each and every year, No hard feelings towards him.
Yes he is talented, but NO ONE is irreplaceable...

 

Are you kidding? Hines showboated and ran his mouth all the time. Drove me nuts. The Steelers (fans) like to think they are better than everyone else with stuff like that, and they're just not.

We do have some guys like Troy, Aaron Smith, Heath, Harrison, who are humble on the field. But let's not kid ourselves. We've got more dancing idiots than non-dancing idiots, just like every other team.

 

Guess I`m just judgemental by degrees... It bugged me when Ike would do his "can`t see me" hand in front of the face thing,(swaggin, I guess) or when anyone getting a first down, would point their hand (or the ball) forward, in the universal "look at me, I just got a first down", gesture, but It didn`t bother me when Keisel would shoot a bow, or I forget who, would do the kick in the air(Porter, Kirkland, Lloyd? I forget now, but it was one of our lb`s, and I think he actually hurt his knee, doing it one time)...
Anyhow, I`m not a total stick in the mud. I like the players having a little fun... Hines was good at it, and earned his right to do it, IMO...
But when you get to the point like T.O., or Ochostinko, where you are hiding Sharpies in the padding of the goalposts, that is just a little too pre-meditaded to me, I guess...
The dances in the endzone just bug me because of the fact that players are spending time, thinking about what they will do when they score, creating their dances, instead of focusing on how to get in the endzone in the first place, I guess.
As a fan of the defense, I`ve gotta go with the philosophy of, "If you don`t want `em to dance, don`t let `em get in the endzone"...

 

I agree with most of what you have to say

 

I hear you on this. Even though it was later to lead to one of the greatest plays in superbowl history, on the final drive in the Cards game I remember Holmes doing some kind of celebration when he got a first down. We were in the hurry up offense. I was screaming at the tv for him to get back in the huddle. There is absolutely no point in it.

It comes down to whether the event calls for the celebration.

It's one of the rule changes that I think has worked well, the one about getting the ball back to the refs after every play (no spiking after getting a first down, etc.). It seems to have curtailed some of the less necessary celebrations.

 

Didn't Hines to a celebration for every first down just like Holmes? It doesn't matter. I just think we're naive to think we're different in that way.

The Steelers have a lot to be proud of. They mostly try their best to draft hard working, high character people. They are successful enough that their team is like 99% their own, and not a collage of other team's draft picks. We have many truly special players, and some amazing traditions (I'm 26, and I've seen I think ONE year of poor run defense, and I've seen nothing but great linebacking corps). We don't need to make stuff up like "True Steelers put the team before money" or "True Steelers are humble." The fact is that all those true Steelers we got were able to get their money because the Steelers are very good at keeping and rewarding their own, often ahead of schedule. Wallace is a very unusual situation.

 

Well, of course there is a difference between Pittsburgh and the other teams. Otherwise, we would like all the other teams, and not just Pittsburgh. However, I don't think those differences necessarily have anything to do with something as intricate, contextual and legalistic as contract negotiations.

 

Please don't give yall commish an opportunity to make another dumb decision.Wallace will be fine and the steelers are not gonna let him go.

 

Just another example of someone going overboard.

 

What is a "true" Steeler? Some of you put a lot of thought in defining this and spent considerable time typing out your conclusions. Your effort is appreciated and I'm sure most relate to what you are saying. Some of you are quick to point out that our team is no better than any other in terms of its behaviors and you are probably right. Really, all these sentiments can be summed up in one thought...family. In my opinion, we as a fan base, our team and its players are all a part of a family. Is our family any better than anyone other family, probably not, but to us we have the best family in the nation. In our own eyes can our family get away with things that other families can't...of course, it's our family. As far as what defines a "true" Steeler. At the end of the day does that player feel like family? Did Jack Lambert feel like family, Mean Joe, Bradshaw, Kirkland, Jerome, etc. I guess the question is does Wallace feel like family and, if so, are you willing to accept his actions because he is family?

 

Good post, Jim.

 

Thank you! Once in a while I pull something out of my four corner contact.

 

Good point Jim. Always enjoy reading your posts.
Had to laugh, when you included Bradshaw in the "family", tho... Took him a while to "come back into the fold", no?
And Snack, I know I sound like a hypocrite, when I give Hines a pass on his celebrations, But I am a lot closer to 40, than 26, and I don`t remember seeing him do that "first down" motion, `till the last 6 years or so...When everyone else in the league started doing it...(Madden Fever?,,, I Dunno...)
The first 8 years, when I am guessing he got more first downs, than the last 6 years, he just got up smiling and went back to the huddle.
(I am not much of a "stat guy", I am just assuming that`s the case. I could be wrong).
Not to pick on ya, `cause I do enjoy reading your posts, and appreciate the research you do, to back up your opinions, but I had to laugh when you included "Harrison", as one of our current "humble" Steelers on the field.
I tried to go back and quote your post, when I wrote this the first time, but then I lost the post, so I will just say it is earlier in this thread.
"Troy, Heath, A. Smith... Harrison"... Yeah, I will give you the first three... But, Silverback?!?!
Humble?!?! Love him to death, but "humble" is probably the last word that would come to mind to describe him! .... "STEELER"?!.... Would be one of the first!!!
We are Fam I Leee....
Go Steelers!

 

Harrison is plenty humble on the field. In magazine articles, perhaps not, but it seems to me when it comes game time he shuts up, kicks asses, and doesn't dance or yap about it. I admire that, even if he's not my type off the field. I threw him in there even though I didn't need to and I knew he wasn't an obvious choice. Thanks for the words. I assure you I put him in there for good reason.

 

I dunno.... I have a feeling, if they had mic`s on the field, (and let us hear them...), he would be just as rude as old "Jack Splat"... Sayin... "Now, THAT~LL COOL YER ASS OFF!!!"
Just sayin...
We don`t have to be ALL humble...
DEEE--- FENSSSSE!!!

 

Ha, maybe. He gets really excited sometimes, but it's more like the Jerome Bettis in-the-moment excitement, and not planned crap. I won't deny that he's got an ego, and with his level of play he's earned one, but I think it's important to show respect for your opponents and the game, and he does that. The dances and taunts get on my nerve.

 

Taunts get on my nerves...Because a player can`t do anything about them, without getting a personal foul flag thrown on themselves...
Dances just seem like a joke to me, and I don`t see the need for them in the game.
But I don`t want to turn it into the "No Fun League", either.
I still stand by my comment, that if the defense is offended by a touchdown celebration, all they have to do, is stop the offense from getting in the endzone.
And with the rules the way they are now, that is harder to do, than to sack the qb, without getting a flag, so If they can do that, by all means, kick the dirt, shoot an arrow, do whatever that Shawne Merriman thing was, they earned it!
Didn`t mean to hijack this thread, but, oh well... Got started on a topic that struck a nerve with me...
I miss oldschool football... and I believe that is what "true Steeler" football is all about...
Sorry to the O.P.,
Like I said in an earlier post...
We are the Pittsburgh Steelers...
We don`t need more rules in the game. We will make our own decisions.
We can choose to pay him, or replace him.
If we choose to replace him, we will do just fine.
We have NEVER been about ONE player above the team.
Not even when we gave Ben 100 million over ten years, we turned right around and gave other players huge contracts, too...
(More on the defensive side of the ball, then, but...)
So if Wallace is willing to wait his turn, fine... There will be a spot for him.
If not... we will move on without his talents. (good though he is)...
How much did we miss Plax, or Homes?
Sorry. I`m tired and ramblin. Peace out.
GO STEELERS

 

I wish there was room for a Jack Lambert or two in today's NFL. You might have guys that want to celebrate the way they do but I think if he were on the field it would come at a price...and I'm not just talking the other team either. I guess I'm kind of old school, in that, one of my favorite parts of the game is the intimidation factor. I used to love it when a guy would stand over the other one and give him a look or a word that said, "I just kicked your a**! Get up and do something about it or lay there!". The way players celebrate and go about it now is not for intimidation but for show-boating. There is a big difference! I guess that is why I'm a big silverback fan.

 

I think for me it's more that the showboating bears no relation to what they've achieved. There was one superbowl afew years ago - ok, it was the superbowl, so emotions would be high - and after the first tackle, just a normal one after a 2-3 yard run, the defender got up and did some kind of celebration dance. Likewise, if a receiver catches an 11 yard pass and goes down, I don't see why that requires some ceremonial routine. It's your job, ffs.

Of course, if it was a really hard-fought first down to get, or there was particular significance to it, then fine. But the reason Holmes celebrating after a first down in the Cards game was precisely that it hadn't got us what we needed - a score - and he was actually wasting precious time that just didn't need to be.

Intimidation, backchat, etc. are all great parts of the game that I've always enjoyed. Reggie Miller-esque agitation has a point to it. Twatting about for the cameras doesn't.