Clark says Steelers need to stay positive, focused

By Alan Robinson

The Steelers' key players met privately at quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's request not just to sort out why they are 0-2 but to prevent the team from possibly falling apart amid its worst start in 11 years.

"It wasn't a rah-rah, let's win one for the Gipper-type deal," safety Ryan Clark said Thursday. "(It was) let's come together."

Only the team's most experienced players took part, Clark said, and they acknowledged what is obvious: The Steelers aren't close to being a Super Bowl team. Or a playoff team. Or the team they're accustomed to being -- even in September.

"We understand that we're not a good enough football team to focus on those things. We've got to focus on beating the Chicago Bears (on Sunday)," Clark said. "I think losing two games has put us in that mode that we need to win one, and that's been everybody's mindset. I think that's good for our team."

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/4733676-74/team-clark-steelers#ixzz2fOb2eUiY
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Winning cures everything.

Winning can be contagious. While I still believe the Steelers are all of those things, I'm glad the players are focused on smaller goals.

One game at a time.

Leaders need to lead. Not talk about leading. Do it on the field.

Drizztbob wrote:

Leaders need to lead.  Not talk about leading.  Do it on the field.

I think it was a step in the right direction. First the leader (Ben) needed to bring in the old school players and get everyone on the same page. I honestly believe this little gathering will bring some much needed on the field leadership on both sides of the ball.

stlrtruck wrote:

I honestly believe this little gathering will bring some much needed on the field leadership on both sides of the ball.

Here's something that bothers me from that little gathering:

Quote :

Steelers veterans deem ping-pong tables off-limits for youngsters

The Steelers are 0-2 and have a myriad of problems with their offensive line and with a running game that isn't taking any pressure off quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Luckily the team had a veterans-only meeting this week, and what has emerged from that get-together should make all the difference as Pittsburgh moves forward.

If you've got less than four years of experience in the league, you can't play ping-pong or pool in the Steelers locker room during business hours any more.

Yes, that's reportedly a real thing, according to KDKA's Jory Rand. Rand noticed signs around the Steelers locker room Thursday, announcing the change. But he couldn't get many Pittsburgh veterans to talk about it.

Later, Rand reports, those signs were taken down. But you can't just erase something like that from your mind.

Said Redman: "Young guys can't play pool, ping pong or shuffleboard. Sucks to be a young guy, I guess. … "We need to win a football game here before guys are coming in worrying about who's first on the pool table. So that eliminates that."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/23736954/steelers-veterans-deem-pingpong-tables-offlimits-for-youngsters

So the veterans decide to make ping pong and pool off-limits to anyone with fewer than four years' experience because, according to Redman, the younger players need to focus on winning games.  

Perhaps I'm way off here, but I'm assuming that the "youngsters" are getting blamed for them being 0-2. Maybe the veterans should take a good, long look in the mirror. I'm all for the veterans saying that things like ping pong and pool need to take a backseat to football, but that should apply to ALL the players, not just those who haven't been on the team longer than 4 years. When a team is struggling, there's naturally going to be some dissention. This is a time when the team needs to come together as one. So I'm not sure I understand the point of purposely dividing the team by having different privileges for different players. This isn't hazing during training camp ... this is the friggin' regular season!! It no longer matters if you're a rookie or have been in the league for 10 years. What matters is whether you're producing on the field. And from what I've seen so far, the veterans are just as much to blame (more so even) for the 0-2 start. Perhaps the better course would have been to say that NO ONE plays ping pong or pool until the team gets above .500.

Quote :

By Ed Bouchette

Steelers vets won't let young players play pool, pong? Maybe one should follow this young Jack Lambert example:

There's always been a tradition in training camp that the Steelers rookies sing their alma mater's fight song in the Saint Vincent College cafeteria.

In 1974, they ordered Lambert to do it. Lambert's response, as repeated in the wonderfully written book coming in October by Gary M. Pomerantz, Their Life's Work:

"Kiss my ass,'' Lambert told them.

http://sulia.com/channel/pittsburgh-steelers/f/d04f4e2e-83aa-4c18-bc92-84af2f845895/?source=twitter

 

We could use someone like Lambert on the team right about now.

Agreed

Here's an idea- just get rid of the damn ping pong table. Like grounding a kid- they have to do something to earn it back like get over .500

Wallace108 wrote:

Quote :

By Ed Bouchette

Steelers vets won't let young players play pool, pong? Maybe one should follow this young Jack Lambert example:

There's always been a tradition in training camp that the Steelers rookies sing their alma mater's fight song in the Saint Vincent College cafeteria.

In 1974, they ordered Lambert to do it. Lambert's response, as repeated in the wonderfully written book coming in October by Gary M. Pomerantz, Their Life's Work:

"Kiss my ass,'' Lambert told them.

http://sulia.com/channel/pittsburgh-steelers/f/d04f4e2e-83aa-4c18-bc92-84af2f845895/?source=twitter

 

We could use someone like Lambert on the team right about now.

Yes sir! It would be amazing to see that mentality on the roster again.

    Lambert has always been one of my favorite players.  He didn't piss around, nor did he mince words.  We need a Jack Lambert on the field now!

Quote :

By Alan Robinson

The only game the Steelers are playing now is football.

Several weeks after the veteran players banned those with less than four years of experience from taking part in recreational locker room games, coach Mike Tomlin issued a team-wide ban on them.

Tomlin's directive means no table shuffleboard, ping pong or pool for veteran players such as Ben Roethlisberger and Ike Taylor, not just rookies such as Le'Veon Bell and Jarvis Jones, as the Steelers (0-4) trudge through their worst start since 1968.

“From his point, it was dividing the team in a way,” safety Ryan Clark said Thursday. “One sect of people couldn't do a certain thing and he just wanted everybody to be together -- because we're all in the losses together. We're all in the business of fixing this problem together. He didn't want anything to divide us.”

The games were added to the Steelers' South Side complex locker room in recent seasons as rewards for their Super Bowl appearances during the 2008 and 2010 seasons. Before then, the players often took part in basketball-like shooting games in which they shot balls made of rolled-up athletic tape into a wastebasket.

Clark said the veterans with Super Bowl experience banned the younger players from the games because they wanted them to earn the right to play them, just as the more experienced players did.

Roethlisberger also said the younger players were “getting comfortable” with their NFL life before they had earned their way. But he defended the games for the more experienced players, saying they built team camaraderie.

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/4862036-74/games-players-locker#ixzz2hMboikrs

Good....they shouldn't be playing ping pong. They should be working their asses off to come up with at least one victory this season. Truth is, I googled Steelers and came up with this. Pretty sad....not much news except Tomlin banning ping pong.  

Gingerchip wrote:

Good....they shouldn't be playing ping pong.  They should be working their asses off to come up with at least one victory this season.

No doubt. But it should have been that way early on, instead of the "veterans can play but the young guys can't" rule that the veterans themselves put in place.Tomlin should have squashed than nonsense immediately.