America always roots for winners which inevitably leads to bandwagon jumpers. It is one reason fans from other teams can’t stand Yankee fans, new Red Sox fans since 2004, the Lakers, the Celtics, the Cowboys, and the Steelers. In football, the Dallas Cowboys have always been known as America’s team. Is it possible the Steelers are laying claim to that moniker? As much as America loves a winner, they also seem to love bad boys. The Steelers can match the Cowboys winning and also their penchant for bad behavior.
In the 90s, the Cowboys won three Super Bowls but also had several run ins with the law. The success and partying ways of the Cowboys inspired Jeff Pearlman to pen Boys Will Be Boys.
Here is a short list of incidents that occurred:
Barry Switzer, head coach- caught at the airport with a gun
Nate Newton, offensive line- caught by police with 213 pounds of marijuana in his car and then FIVE WEEKS LATER caught with another 175 pounds of marijuana
Michael Irvin, wide receiver- caught snorting cocaine in a hotel room for his 30th birthday
Let’s contrast that with the Steelers from this generation with players like Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Rashard Mendenhall, and James Harrison. Prior to this offseason, the Steelers had a couple isolated incidents with behavior like Roethlisberger’s motorcycle accident and his sexual assault charge in 2010. Convenient how they got swept under the rug. Santonio Holmes with a 4 game suspension for abusing the league’s substance abuse policy. He gets traded for his troubles. However, this offseason has been a banner year for the Steelers with Rashard Mendalhall’s ignorant tweets following the death of Osama bin Laden, Hines Ward DUI arrest, Roethlisberger’s very secretive marriage, and James Harrison’s comments from Men’s Journal expressing his opinions in Men’s Journal about Commissioner Roger Goodell and his teammates from the Super Bowl loss. Stay classy guys.
When you lose and have knuckleheads, you have the Bengals. When you win and have knuckleheads, you have the Steelers and the Cowboys. So while the accolades don’t quite add up to everything from the Cowboys in the 90s, the Steelers are well on their way. I guess being a knucklehead is okay as long as you win.
We’ll just conveniently forget about the Ravens’ off-the-field issues…. SHHHHH… don’t tell anyone.
Signed,
The Kettle
The Ravens have had their issues, but they are not anything close to being America’s team. If anything, their reputation has kept them from gaining any popularity.
Gotta love how only a ravens fan can turn being Americas “true” team (and not self proclaimed) into a bad thing. Congrats!
PS Im sure the RFavens of the last 15 years has been above and beyond the “bad boys” of the NFL. I do seem to rememebr this of nearly the whole 2000’s. just saying…….
Ravens continue to attract the lowlifes. Kindle and Stalworth last year, Jimmy Smith this year, it never ends with them.
Football is a rough sport for nasty guys,,,,,,,,love it or hate it , it is America’s sport of choice,,,,,,,,,,
Unbelievable excuse for journalism with a massive dose of “homerism” thrown in. The “Baltimore Sports Report” (cough…cough) is throwing stones from it’s very shaky glass house?
Ray “Where’s my Knife?” Lewis, Sergio Kindle, Chris McAlister’s 3 arrests, Jamal “White Lines!” Lewis, Gerome Sapp, Steve McNair, Donte Stallworth, Corey Fuller, Terrell Thuggs, Cornell Brown, and Leon Searcy are just some arrested while wearing the panzy shade of purple.
And your rebuttal is to indicate that Ben’s wedding this summer was secretive? One, if it were, how is that bad? He is a star (unlike Baltimore’s seen since Cal Ripken left the bigs) and they don’t invite the public. But secondarily, everyone knew the date, who he was marrying, that she’s a physicians assistant, etc. What was secretive? Seriously, talk about making something up to support a bogus argument.
If this were coming from a Seattle fan, or a Redskins fan…there wouldn’t be much to say. But this article coming from Ratbird land is the equivalent of Mickey Mantle calling Babe Ruth a drunk.
Go clean up your own house before you cast stones. But then again, hypocrisy suits you well – rewind to John Harbaugh’s interview before playing the Steelers re: illegal hits in the NFL – “There’s no doubt in my mind our players have it figured out…and the rest of the league will too soon.” A mere 90 minutes later Jameel McClain nearly decapitates Heath Miller and suffers a league fine and Ngata breaks Roethlisberger’s nose.
Yeah, you guys always have it all figured out – as you turn blind eye after eye to your own evils.