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Steelers Offseason · Steelers Country Weekly

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Today on Steelers Country Weekly, we give you a quick update on what's going
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on in the off season, and then we'll take a look at NFL Network's
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Mount Rushmore for the Pittsburgh Steelers, give our thoughts on it, and say
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who might be on our Mount Rushmore. I'm Nick Detulio and as always I'm
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joined by the world famous accountant Eric Vamin. Showten. Eric, how's it
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going good? Tired the degree? He is finally hit in Texas? So
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yeah, I've been doing some things outside, so I'm a little zund Yeah.
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Yeah, I was doing yard work myself this weekend. We've been going
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to six Flags. We went like three weekends in a row, so it
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was kind of nice to do yard work and not go to six Flags for
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once. Lugging all the kids around and that big wagon is definitely a workout
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though, did you know? I mean, at least this is my understanding
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of what six flags and if it originally in Texas, I think what it
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means is did you know what six flags means? Wasn't the six flags for
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like each of the each flag represents something, doesn't it. Yeah, if
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it's a Texas base amusement park, which might be it's the six flags over
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Texas, which is every country Texas was part of. That's right, yep,
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so you've got Mexico, the United States, Texas As itself was Spain
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probably one of them. Spain is one. I should have asked you if
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you knew all six before I started trying to guess, Do you know what?
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What are the other two? What's the capital? What are the other
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two? Then I got four? So you said Spain, Mexico, Texas,
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Texas. Yeah, so there that's where I'm at. Uh. I
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believe they're part of France for pizza, and they're part of the I can't
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believe I forgot the confederacy France though. Really all right, I think so.
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I guess we'll quick all right doing our own fact checks tonight. I'm
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like the debate last week. Oh we're I did. I am a political
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junkie. I have my my thoughts on the debate, but I will not
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be sharing them here because this is a safe space from politics. And I
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can't believe you just brought up the debate. But that tells you how slow
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it is right now in the in world. Yeah, that's slow. So
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I am right. Gosh, I'm never gonna let anyone I know who's actually
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from Texas live it down that they were occupied by the French for six years.
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Oh lord, all right, Well, if the politics and the six
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flags talk isn't a really good indication that we have nothing really to go on
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tonight, then I don't know what is. But let's let's just get into
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it. So far in the off season, not a lot has happened,
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you know, recently, a lot of the big signings the Steelers really,
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a lot of the big activity they did it already. So now we're just
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waiting to get into mini camp and OTAs. There's been a couple of things.
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I mean, I've seen the story. I'm sure you have too,
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that Russell Wilson looked pretty good in camp, Justin Fields did not look as
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good, and I mean no surprise to me there. It's just the mini
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camp, so I'm not too concerned either. But it's nice to see the
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team getting together and guys working out. Russell Wilson was working out with DK
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Metcalf, which to me just basically means that Omar Cohn is going to trade
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for Dk Mettcalf a seventh round pick in twenty thirty two's draft and he'll be
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on our squad this year. So there we go like that. And of
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course you brought up earlier before we started recording that, and you reminded me
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because it happened so quietly and so much later than you would expect. Tomlin
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signed a three year extension, so he's with us through twenty twenty seven,
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I believe. Yeah, So I'll ask you just overall thoughts on the extension,
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what do you think? Okay, so all the qualms that we had
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about Tomlin at the end of last season, did they just go away?
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Like we somehow won three games, knuck into the playoffs, nows and it
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would just feel good about extension. I'm not a tom of hater. I
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want to state that it's just and I have no problem with there, Like,
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hey, we're going to give me an extra comfort year. Here's one
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more year, but three years, at which I think would then extended to
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four years because he's under contract for this year. I mean, I know,
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too long for me. You know, I'm kind of in the same
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boat as you. I guess. I guess I would have to see the
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buyout language. Not that this is like college football or anything where our school
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would have to buy out the contract or anything like that. But yeah,
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three years seemed kind of odd, especially after the discussions that Art Rooney was
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having very publicly where he was you know, this lack of postseason success is
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not going to stand anymore. We have to see results, and to me
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that would mean like that, Yeah, they'll give him the one year,
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because you never want to coach on just one year of a contract. But
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then they turned around and gave him the three, which just kind of seemed
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odd. Overall. I'm look, I don't want to be negative about it.
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I'm okay with it. I do certainly have concerns still about the lack
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of success that we've seen in the postseason, but you know, I do
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like the guy. I guess I like the consistency. That might just be
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one of those things where I'll have to be forced to accept the change and
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when it happens. But you know, I think what I keep going back
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to is who are they going to replace him with if they do decide to
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move on. It's not like they're going to get another head coach out there
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who's better per se, And frankly, maybe I just don't know enough about
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the assistant coaches in the NFL that are coming up through the pipeline. But
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to me, unless there was some guy that I absolutely was sure was going
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to be the coach for the next fifteen years because he was going to have
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that kind of success, I'm okay stand and pack for now. That doesn't
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mean I don't acknowledge the concerns you're talking about, though, Yeah, I
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just I just think it's it's crazy to me, I understand the ineptness we've
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had on offense that even just said Kenny took over. We had the Ben
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injury, Ben coming back from injury and stuff like that, But it's just
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like, I don't know it. It's tough because when you think about like
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the sheer talent on this team and T J. Watts just saying a good
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mine would be to win a playoff game because the guy's stats would indicate he's
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aig famer. But are we holding him back ex nerves? Yeah, and
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there's certainly been a lot of extenuating circumstances like you mentioned. I wouldn't quite
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put it that way, but but yeah, at the end of the day,
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the only the only thing that does matter is wins and losses. And
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people can certainly show patients and show understanding in some of those extenuating circumstances,
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but when it becomes the norm year after year, I think that's a problem.
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I do think the Steelers have been on the right path. It's just
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been it's been a very very slow incline back up to where we expect him
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to. You know, we I'm losing my I don't know how to articulate
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it. But if we were trying to begin that uphill climb again, we'd
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be on a very very very long ramp instead of the steps, if that
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makes sense, mm hmm. So we'll leave it at that. Then I
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think this year has got to be like it though? Right if if this
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thing crashes and burns with Russell Wilson and the new the new offensive line and
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the weapons they got like they there's no coming back from this, do you
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think? Right? Well's the thing though? Is? I mean? I
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like that he doesn't crash and burn, So we've just been water. So
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it just gets bored to the point of when does the organization say, I'd
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rather go out and take a cup and strike out is a chance, But
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I hired a beating eight and eight and not even sniffing a playoff win since
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twenty sixteen has changed since then, So you know, I was just thinking
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about this because July first is Bobby Bonilla Day in the MLB, and I
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forget what the exact payment, It's like a million and something dollars because he
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deferred. For those who don't know, he deferred his payments from the Mets
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for several years and now he has like twenty or something years of payments and
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he hasn't played in like over twenty years. But the reason I was thinking
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about the Mets was because of that. But I remember talking about the Mets
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last year and I was kind of making fun of him because I have a
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coworker who likes the Mets, and they spent all that money on that team
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and they just flopped hard, like people got hurt. The guys who they
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paid all this money too, just didn't pan out. And I got back
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to think, and I'm like, yeah, that is kind of embarrassing,
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and you could make a case that that's the worst season in their team's history
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when you consider what they paid to get that team. But I was like,
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at least they tried, right, Like, isn't that worth something?
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Like, yeah, we'll still make fun of them because that's what we do.
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It's sports. But I mean I was like, they tried, they
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did it, and it didn't work out, and yeah, that kind of
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sucks. But it unlike our baseball team, the Reds, where the owner
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literally just says, okay, well where are you going to go? And
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what we're used to with the Steelers, which is just stand firm draft.
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Well, we've seen the Steelers start to trend a little bit more in that
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direction in the past two years. Really listen to Omar Khan took over.
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Yes, going back to my original point, that's where I think, if
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that if this doesn't work and it crashes and burns, and like, I
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don't think a crash and burn for the Steelers is like a two in fourteen
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or two in fifteen season. I think it's like a six and ten season
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if that happens. Like That's what I'm saying is like where else can you
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go? Right? Yeah? So all right, Well, is there anything
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else you wanted to talk about with the Mike Tomlin situation? No, I
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mean, the only thing I'll see that I was, like, he's still
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regarded as coach and ground in our circles. So yeah, I mean breaks,
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it's not a u a disendorsement. I don't know the right word.
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I mean, sometimes things just get stale, you know. Yeah, And
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I do think he is a top coach, and I think that if the
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Steelers moved on from him, there would probably be teams who have coaches that
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were not even on the hot seat, but on the warm seat. They
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would just let him go if they thought they could get Tomlin. Oh yeah,
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so dude, he'd get You think he'd go to the Cowboys? Why
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not? I mean, I see Jerry Jones just rolling out the plus red
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velvet. That That's what I mean. And maybe, yeah, Jerry Jones
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to do it. And if you're Mike Tomlin, why not, like,
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go get that bag. And if that doesn't work out, take a job
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in the media. I'm sure every single network would be throwing themselves at him
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to be one of their studio guys. I think you'd do better than a
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lot of the guys that are already doing it, So why not, right?
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Yeah? So all right, Well, one of the things that came
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out recently that was interesting was the NFL network did Mount Rushmore for each team.
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Since we're talking about politics, let's bring in American history too here.
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Mount Rushmore. Of course, if you picked the four best players from your
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franchise, who would they be. I think we've talked about this before,
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but maybe our opinions have changed over time, and we'll compare and contrast what
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we think about the NFL network selections. The Steelers have, in no particular
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order, Joe Green, Jack Lambert, Terry Bradshaw, and Big Ben.
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So let's just start with well, I'll just ask your opinion, Eric,
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and if you want to give me your four in the pro to say giving
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me your feedback, that's fine as well. But what do you think about
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the NFL networks selections for the Steelers? Mount Rushmore so say, I guess
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Green, Bridge, Lambert, and Big Ben. I mean, I think
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it's the Steelers have something of a luxury of like a rich such a rich
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history, Like you look back to the all seventies team was like probably half
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a Steelers. So yeah, it's really hard because it sounds very seventies seventies
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heavy, But at the same time, you know, maybe it's warranted.
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I do think that Harry Bradshaw, granted he does have four Super Bowls,
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but I don't think he's like as great of a quarterback, so I do
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think that I would probably take him out. And and you know, I
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think that there's other people that I think, you know, maybe it's my
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personal opinion, but could be more iconic to the Steelers while still being Hall
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of Famers. I mean, just to throw a couple out there would be
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the Bus or Troy in our era. So but you know that's why I
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come to my eyes. I think over wrongs, it's good, but you
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know, there could definitely be some people that you could interchange in there.
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And you know you're the ones I threw out there. There's probably even more
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deserving people based on stats or other metrics that you could hear people that are
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sixty and old are going, well, you've forgotten and shouting at us for
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our recency bias. Yeah, yeah, the recency bias. I think the
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Steelers probably had have one of the most celebrated rosters just all time. So
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you look at them, probably the Bears and the Packers, especially going back
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really early into the days of the NFL, they probably have guys that could
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be on their Mount Rushmore that we've never even heard of, which is always
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tough when you're doing these Mount rushmorees. Like you said, we've got a
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recency bias. Looking at the Steelers four, My four would be Mean Joe
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and Big Ben, So no change is there. I would put Franco up
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there, and I would put up Troy Paul Malu, I put Frank.
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I put Franco up there because he's one of only three people to have their
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number retired. He's got the most famous play in NFL history, and he
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I think it was Mean Joe who said when Franco got there, everything changed.
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So even though Mean Joe was the cornerstone in the first building block of
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that team, Franco was the catalyst that got everything rolling. So and then
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maybe this is cheating, but I guess stats aside, he really ingrained himself
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in the Pittsburgh community. I think he stayed in Pittsburgh in his whole life
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after football. So to me, he's just a Steeler. And of course
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there's that. You know, We've got the statue of him at the airport
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right next to George Washington that tells you how important he is. So so
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now we'll put him on Mount Rushmore next to George Washington as well. There
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you go, and I'm gonna put Troy palm Ala down because there's a lot
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of ways you can go for that fourth spot. But he is the only
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one of the four, except for possibly Joe Green, that you could make
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the case was the best at their position all time. On top of being
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one of the top Steelers of all time. He is Him and Ed Reid
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are usually right up there in the discussion for the goat for safeties, particularly
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in the modern ara. Obviously you go back, you get guys like Ronnie
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Latton and them, but I think when you're in the goat discussion for your
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position that that kind of elevates you as well. And he was quite literally
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a highlight reel. The plays he made are plays that we have never seen
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and we'll probably never see again. I haven't seen another player that I can
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recall who reminds me exactly of Troy PAULA. Mal with the way he would
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run all over the field, how he had the permission to go from Dick
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Leboll and kind of just do whatever he wanted. So that's why I'm going
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with Paul Malow. A couple of honorable mentions. Ernie Stautner defensive lineman,
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he was the first person of his jersey retired. He was, I think,
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on the team in the thirties and forties. Again, one of those
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guys I don't personally know a lot about, but he was the best player,
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not even close, in the first forty years of the team's history,
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which were pretty abysmal from what I understand. Then you have I'll put Jack
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Lambert and Terry's honorable mentions if I'm not going to put him on the main
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one I've set up before when talking about Terry and Ben. Terry had two
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hundred and twelve touchdowns to two hundred and ten interceptions, and I think if
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you swapped Terry and Ben in time, Ben would be much more successful with
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the seven with the seventies Steelers, then Terry would be on Ben's Steelers.
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Saying that out loud doesn't exactly sound like the win I thought it was when
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I was thinking it, Like, of course, if you put anyone from
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the modern era on the seventies Steelers, they're gonna have a great time.
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But I just mean to say that I think Ben is the better quarterback overall.
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Yeah, all right, Well, that was really about all I had
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in the tank to discuss tonight. This is July. It's kind of slow.
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There's been nothing major going on, which is good because usually if something
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major is going on right now, it's not a good thing. So I
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guess I'm ex I did. I think since the last time we talked,
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I bought tickets to the Steelers opening game and Week one in Atlanta, so
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that'll be fun. Now. I just got to figure out who's going with
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me. My co host will not be joining unfortunately, so hell yeah I
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would. I was talking to my wife about this yesterday. I was like,
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I'd love to bring my daughter, but she likes to leave after like
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the first quarter or the first inning of whatever game we're play watching, and
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I'd like to stay longer than that unless it's a really bad blowout. One
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of my other friends was like, yeah, I hate going to the Falcon
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Stadium. I'm never going back there. Before I even like broach the topic
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with him, so I'm like, Okay, what does it not like about
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the Falcon Stadium? I don't even remember anymore. I think it was the
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parking situation. I don't remember. Huh is it bad? I've only been
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to one event down there and it wasn't too bad for me. I can't
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remember what he was complaining about. I think he might have. Oh you
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know what it was, he just sat next to some really bad fans the
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last like three times he had been. It wasn't just for Falcons games,
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it was just events in that stadium. So he just thinks the stadium's cursed.
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Oh well, can't beat those cheap concession stands, though, So maybe
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I'll take my son. He's not a football fan, but he likes animals.
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So the only problem with that is he will be cheering for the Falcons
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pretty hardcore. So why would your daughter want to leave early but your son
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would not. Ben is just more easy going. So here's a good example.
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We went to a Braves game and we got there a little bit early,
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not too early. We sat down, we ate food, and as
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soon as she was done eating her hot dogs, she's like, all right,
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I'm ready to go. She thought that we were just there to eat
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hot dogs and popcorn, and as soon as we were done we could leave.
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So it doesn't like sitting. Still, doesn't like staying in the same
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spot for too long. So yeah, and then of course my wife's like,
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oh, you could bring the baby I'm like, no, I'm not
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bringing a baby to the Steelers game. Come on. Yeah, so we'll
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see. If you're in the Atlanta air and you want to go to a
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football game, hit me up right. Yeah. Have you found Atlanta based
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Steelers? I haven't been, but yeah, I found a couple. I
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did find an Atlanta Steelers fan page, but I couldn't tolerate it too long.
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Some of the takes I saw were not not really that good, so
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I had to mute that one. But I have not found any place quite
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like Martinez, to tell you the truth. Well, I agree, Uh,
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there were a couple of decent bars down here in Austin, and uh
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now they still pack it. I will say that, but I don't know
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it's did didn't seem they had the same feel as Martina. So the problem
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with Atlanta too is it's so spread out. Basically, everything's forty five minutes
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to an hour from downtown, and there's a the suburbs, so to speak,
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or the greater Atlanta area is like a bunch of other smaller independent cities.
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So the story that I've heard is people will say where are you from,
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and you'll say, oh, I'm from Atlanta. And they'll respond,
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oh, you're from Atlanta, what city like you know? Yeah, so,
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like I'm in Woodstock, and if someone told me that they were in
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like Dallas, Georgia, it's still Atlanta basically, but it's an hour the
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other direction. Yeah yeah, well all right, what about Marietta. Then
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that is the next town over from me. So that is Marietta is very
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close to me. But that's just because I'm at the edge of Woodstock next
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to Marietta. Now you're just giving away everyone to everyone where I live.
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So there you go. Oh I'm just saying, put out my phone number
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social Security. Yeah. Yeah, you'll get down here one day. I
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don't know what for. Oh, there you go. Maybe you can come
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down over the basketball season to watch the Bearcats play Georgia Tech. That's happening
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this year. There we go. Yeah, there's a lot of uh a
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lot of water. Yeah, it looks like round Mountain State or a bunch
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of m you can go. You're way more outdoorsy than me. Lake Alatoona.
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What's the other lake down here? There's like a lake that everyone says
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is haunted. I can't think of it right now. And uh, lots
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of accidents uh, well, lots of accidents have happened on the lake.
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Mhm. I just can't think of it right now. It's gonna drive me
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nuts because as soon as we stop recording, I'm gonna remember it and then
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I'll have to call you back and we'll have to start over again, go
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through Mount Rushmore again. Well, on that note, with with there on
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the corner, there are festivities. Yeah, no, no blowing up anything
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other than the fireworks. Don't point them at anyone, don't knock them over.
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Just take it easy, have fun, enjoy the grill out, and
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stay so you can come back next month and talk more Steelers football with us.
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Right, that's right, all right, Well, I think that'll do
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it for us. For the world famous accountant Eric van Benschotin, I'm Nick
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Detulio and this has been another episode of the GameHouse dot COM's Steelers Country Weekly,