Everyone and their dog is picking up on this idea that the Steelers' locker room was "divided" at the end of last season. You know what? Good. They should have been uncomfortable. They should have been pissed off at each other.
Because the Steelers underachieved last year and had no one to blame but themselves.
Hines Ward is the most recent person to criticize the team's locker room dynamics, saying that it isn't the "Steeler way." But Hines Ward isn't part of the Steelers' locker room anymore. It isn't his team. It's Ben's team, and Antonio Brown's team, and Brett Keisel's team. If Ward is talking about how all that leadership left and then everything fell apart, that sounds to me like Ward is putting himself and Aaron Smith over while devaluing guys like Keisel and Ben. As that Trib article goes on to describe how Ward wishes he could have played one more season with the Steelers, doesn't it kind of just sound like he's bitter about being let go? And doesn't this seem like something Jerome Bettis would say?
If I had to hand-pick my locker room controversy, players would be mad at Mike Wallace for demanding the GDP of a small country and then dropping passes like they were covered in butter. I'd have players who think Maurkice Pouncey is as much of a jerk as I do.
That's probably not what players are divided on, and I honestly don't care what problems they have with each other. They are going to have to work together and be professional, and if there are players who can't do that, they will have to leave. You aren't to find a group of 50+ people who get along all the time and it would be creepy if you did.
The point to all of this is that a story is being made out of nothing. It's a slow time for football news, I know. The scouting combine is going on, but that doesn't do much for someone without NFL Network or several hours to spend watching 22-year-olds run around traffic cones. But I've seen enough stories in the various papers and websites about the perceived fractures in the Steelers' locker room. I'm looking forward to this not being a story anymore, because it isn't important. If players are attacking each other in training camp next summer, then we have a problem. Until then, we should all just wait for the Steelers to sign Steve Breaston and pray that they don't draft Manti Te'o.
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