The Standard is the standard, the rallying cry of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It speaks to a sense of commitment to the team above yourself, honoring not only your teammates but holding up the type of on-field and off-field examples of the men that came before you.
What do we hear Mike Tomlin constantly preaching about the roster? “We want volunteers, not hostages,” or “I'll tolerate you until I can replace you.” Those statements are hard to disagree with. Nobody wants somebody around who'd rather be somewhere else. Which begs the question – Why do the Steelers sign/draft these players in the first place?
The Steelers have shed a lot of former malcontents in recent years. Unfortunately, though, many of those players have been guys they’ve drafted.
• Diontae Johnson: 2019 third-round pick
• Chase Claypool: 2020 second-round pick
• Melvin Ingram III: 2021 free agent signee, traded during the same season
• Kenny Pickett: 2022 first-round pick
• George Pickens: 2022 second-round pick
Johnson was traded away to the Carolina Panthers in part due to maturity issues, which seemed to follow him to the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. Claypool was traded away because he, too, had maturity issues. That trade turned out to be a coup for the Steelers, as it resulted in their selection of Joey Porter Jr. in 2023. The Steelers, in hindsight, mistakenly over-drafted Pickett from a production perspective in the 2022 NFL Draft. And when they brought in competition in Russell Wilson at the pole position, Pickett requested a trade.
Finally, Pickens had all the talent in the world but was causing the Steelers headaches on the field and off the field, which became too much for Pittsburgh to deal with.
Enter Jalen Ramsey, who reportedly had similar issues with the Miami Dolphins, which poses the question: Where is the standard? And why should we expect anything different this season? Least we forget the on-field captain of the ship is now one Aaron Rodgers, who can be a bit cantankerous. Plus, while he's a heck of a receiver, D.K. Metcalf isn't a stranger to confrontation with the coaching staff.
DK Metcalf took the headset off a coach to personally yell at his OC Ryan Grubb
“Hey [Ryan] Grubb, can we please throw past the f*cking sticks… PLEASE?!”
pic.twitter.com/q0AFHkNZQF
— Kicks (@kicks) October 11, 2024
If the Steelers want to bring in personalities that are difficult to manage, that's fine. However, don't complain behind closed doors about how difficult a player is when you chose to bring him in despite the warnings. They're not “stealing” top-level talent in the draft; they are having those players fall to them because other teams aren’t willing to deal with the baggage that comes with them.
This falls on the shoulders of Mike Tomlin. If things fall apart in 2025, “The Standard” will be nothing more than a hollow talking point.
