Let's get to it:
TAD DANLEY FROM GEORGETOWN, TX: Mel Blount is one of my all-time favorite Steelers as a player and a man. You mentioned there had been some complaints about his performance during his early career. Can you please elaborate?
ANSWER: Because of when Mel Blount played – 1970-1983 – there was no social media, and Myron Cope had the only talk show in the Pittsburgh market, and that had a limited audience because it was broadcast on a 5,000-watt AM radio station – WTAE. But that didn't mean that the future Hall of Fame cornerback was immune to criticism, and even a bit of public shaming by his defensive coordinator. The Steelers had advanced to the 1974 AFC Championship Game, which was played in Oakland against the Raiders, in Blount's fifth NFL season. As Cliff Branch was amassing 186 yards on 9 catches, including a 38-yard touchdown that gave the Raiders a 10-3 lead at the time, defensive coordinator Bud Carson pulled Blount from the game and replaced him with rookie cornerback Jimmy Allen. Blount did not get to play any more that day, but Coach Chuck Noll put him back in the starting lineup for Super Bowl IX against Minnesota. In that 16-6 victory over the Vikings, the cornerback who would become so dominant by 1976 that the NFL changed some rules to limit his effectiveness responded with 2 tackles and an interception, while the Vikings wide receivers COMBINED for 1 catch for 16 yards. Yes, Branch, who would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022, had a big game that day, but in my opinion, Mel Blount didn't deserve to be shamed by being benched during a game. And had there been social media at the time, I can imagine what the couch critics and the analytics people would have said and written about one of the greatest cornerbacks in NFL history.
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SUSAN PANTELY FROM PITTSBURGH, PA: I look forward to your column all season but have never submitted a question before. During the Commanders game, Russell Wilson did a hard count and the rookie defensive lineman jumped securing us the win. Everyone is crediting Wilson with a great cadence. I would have thought everyone would have assumed we were not going to run a play. Was this a great play by Wilson or a rookie mistake?
ANSWER: Two things can be true at the same time, and I believe this is one of those. It was a great play by Russell Wilson to take advantage of a rookie defensive lineman. There are countless of instances in every NFL game where one team takes advantage of, or targets, an opposing player. Then, how each fan chooses to interpret each situation becomes a personal decision.
But let me just take a minute to tell you something I saw with my own eyes. In 2015, the 2-2 Steelers were in San Diego for a Monday Night game. Ben Roethlisberger was injured, and so the starting quarterback for that game was Mike Vick. The Steelers were losing by 3 points, 20-17, and Vick had just completed a pass to Heath Miller that brought the ball down to the Chargers' 1-yard line with 5 seconds left. There also was a roughness penalty called on San Diego SS Jahleel Addae that moved the ball a little closer to the goal line and stopped the clock. Everyone assumed that the Coach Mike Tomlin would opt for the field goal and send the game into overtime. Instead, he sent the offense back onto the field. Le'Veon Bell took a direct snap and ran over left tackle for a touchdown with no time left. The Steelers won the game, but if Bell had been stopped then the Steelers would have lost the game. Tomlin went all in – one play, win or lose. Maybe the next time there is a fourth-and-1, Tomlin has the offense line up and actually run a play. Maybe the Steelers again try to draw a defensive penalty with cadence. But I believe anyone who "knows" what Tomlin is going to do could be in for a shock.
SAM MIKHAIL FROM BETHESDA, MD: The Steelers vs. the Ravens is one of the best rivalries in the NFL. Since the Ravens relocated to Baltimore in 1996, what is the overall record in terms of wins and losses? What was the Steelers biggest margin of victory and their biggest margin of defeat? Lastly, what is Mike Tomlin's record?
ANSWER: Since Art Modell took his team and fled Cleveland for Baltimore for the 1996 season, the Steelers lead the all-time series, 35-25, which includes postseason games. The Steelers' largest margin of victory was 37-0 in 1997, and their largest margin of defeat was 35-7 in 2011. Mike Tomlin's record vs. the Ravens is 21-16, which includes postseason games.
TJ VALESKI FROM INDIANA, PA: Just wanted to take the opportunity to thank the individual(s) who donate game tickets for veterans through the Vet Tix program. Through this program I will be attending Sunday's game vs. the Ravens with my son, who is also a veteran. Thank you!
ANSWER: And thanks to you and your son for your service.
BRETT SNYDER FROM CHAMBERSBURG, PA: Overall, most play-by-play announcers and color commentators do a great job. We all have our favorites, and perhaps some whom we do not prefer. I have a recollection of a time (I think it was in the 1980s) when the league experimented by broadcasting a game with no announcers at all?
ANSWER: Yes. It was a Dec. 20, 1980, game matching the 3-12 New York Jets at the 8-7 Miami Dolphins, and it was the idea of Don Ohlmeyer, who then was the executive producer of NBC Sports. In that era, NBC held the broadcast rights to AFC games. Greg Garber wrote a detailed remembrance of that once-in-a-lifetime event that appeared on ESPN.com on Dec. 10, 2010, and his piece opened with this quote from Bryant Gumbel, an NBC broadcaster at the time: "We are just moments away from the kickoff of today's Jets-Dolphins game and a telecast that figures to be different. The fact that we try something different and dare to has been greeted with almost every kind of reaction, from good-natured humor to applause to some surprising anger."
The Jets won the game, 24-17, and Garber wrote that the reaction to the experiment as logged by the calls to the NBC switchboard showed 831 in favor of no announcers and 518 against such a broadcast.
MATTHEW JOHNSON FROM CASHIERS, NC: I'm not complaining about the officiating in the game vs. the Commanders, but I think that T.J. Watt was held in the end zone during an attempted passing play in the fourth quarter. Would he have been credited with a sack if they had called the hold and awarded the Steelers a safety on that play?
ANSWER: No. Statistics are not awarded on plays defined by penalties.
NICHOLAS MOSES FROM SIMI VALLEY, CA: Sign Russell Wilson to a 2 or 3 year extension, let Justin Fields leave via free agency, draft a quarterback this year and let him sit and learn under Russ. Do you think that's their plan? Do you think it ought to be?
ANSWER: Unlike fans, the Steelers don't formulate a "plan" for a draft that's 5 months away, and what if Justin Fields is needed to play a few games down the stretch of this season and leads the Steelers to victories that become critical to the outcome of their season?
PHILLIP BAILEY III FROM ZEBULON, NC: Steelers players seem to be usually involved in the community in various ways throughout their time with the team (or beyond). Established/retired players may have their own charities/initiatives and younger players (as soon as joining the team or as rookies) are pictured attending community/charity events. Is this kind of involvement contractual, or more so a combination of the Steelers leadership, culture, and the players themselves?
ANSWER: It is absolutely not contractual.
JACK FOSTER FROM ROUNDUP, MT: What is the status of Russell Wilson's contract compensation from Denver next year? I had heard he still is owed $39 million from them. If so, would he play for us again for the league veteran minimum?
ANSWER: You either mis-heard, or what you did hear was incorrect, because the Denver Broncos have no financial obligation to Russell Wilson beyond the 2024 season. And he can become an unrestricted free agent in March 2025.
