With a legitimate shot at a third Super Bowl appearance and second Super Bowl victory on the table, you’d think Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin would have more on his mind than a perceived slight from Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, but Tuesday Tomlin decided to bear his soul anyway.
Last week Bradshaw was asked what he thought of Tomlin on Fox Sports 1. Here’s what Bradshaw said.
“I don’t think he (Tomlin) is a great coach at all. He’s a nice coach. To me, and I’ve said this, he’s really a great cheerleader guy. I don’t know what he does. But I don’t think that he’s a great coach at all. His name never even pops in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL.”
Bradshaw does think that Bill Cowher was a “great coach,” apparently, even though both men have the same Super Bowl record. Cowher coached 15 seasons, finishing with a .623 winning percentage and a 149-90-1 record. Tomlin has coached 10 seasons, has a .642 winning percentage and a 102-57 record. Not too far off.
Roethlisberger, for one, seems pretty happy his team has one of the top three or four head coaches in the league.
“No offense to Terry,” Roethlisberger said. “I think he is one of the greatest of all time. I consider him Steeler family. But this is the real family, the tight-knit family that we have in here in this locker room. And when people talk, it’s dust in the wind, if you will. I laughed at it because, well, it was what it was. But we can’t dwell on it. Some people may have taken it to heart and said, ‘Hey we’re going to play for him because of what was said.’ I think I’ve been in this long enough and heard enough stuff that for me it wasn’t as big of a deal.”
Who do I think is the better coach? Well, Cowher obviously. He worked that magic with Neil O’Donnell, Tommy Maddox and Kordell Stewart as his quarterbacks for most of his time in Pittsburgh. He only had Ben Roethlisberger for his last three seasons. Cowher had only three losing seasons in his career and only four non-winning seasons. He was 21-12 in the playoffs, for God’s sake. Do I have to mention the quarterbacks he had to use again?
But what about Tomlin? Well, he’s never had a losing season, period. He’s had two 8-8 campaigns. He’s 11-6 in the playoffs. So while I give the edge to Cowher, we’re still talking about the second and third best head coaches in Pittsburgh Steelers’ history. And Tomlin’s not done yet.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin responds to Terry Bradshaw's criticism. Says term "cheerleader guy" is "disrespectful and unprofessional." pic.twitter.com/ZEjIPm9Xpl
— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) December 27, 2016
His performance as head coach of the Steelers should be all the evidence Tomlin needed to wave off Bradshaw’s comments. But he didn’t. Words can hurt and Tomlin let us know how sore his ass was Tuesday.
“The term ‘great’ is something I have a great deal of respect for,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “I certainly don’t think my resume to this point reads as ‘great.’ But very few coaches’ resumes read as that and this point. Guys like Bill (Belichick) in New England can say that or Pop (Greg Poppovich) down in San Antonio, but the rest of us are just working stiffs to be quite honest with you.”
And that’s really where Tomlin should have left it, a humble response that praised other coaches. It was time to move on to the next question. But Tomlin didn’t.
“That being said, terms like ‘cheerleader guy,’ to me maybe fall outside the bounds of critique or criticism,” Tomlin continued. “They probably fall more to the area of disrespect and (are) unprofessional. But what do I know? I grew up a Dallas fan. Particularly a Hollywood Henderson fan.”
There were too pretty sick burns in that statement. The first was Tomlin letting Bradshaw know that he never liked him in the first place. The second was bringing up Hollywood Henderson who once said Bradshaw was so dumb he couldn’t spell ‘cat’ if “you spotted him the ‘C’ and the ‘A.'”
Was it a sweet dig? Sure, but you’re better than than, Tomlin. Just continue frowning, winning football games and doing what everyone else at the Fox NFL desk does every Sunday, thoroughly ignore Terry Bradshaw.
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