Former Steelers players are not happy with the current product that is representing their beloved black and gold.
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Former safety Ryan Clark went off on ESPN’s “Get UP” Monday eviscerating the Steelers defense.
“They’re not my beloved Steelers anymore. Nobody is scared to play this team,” he said. “There’s absolutely no physicality. There’s no energy defensively. There’s no tone setters. You have one of the best playmaking free safeties in football in Minkah Fitzpatrick, and you know what he is? He’s a fifth linebacker, because you can’t tackle anybody in the run.”
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On Tuesday, former safety Bryant McFadden told the Fan Morning Show that Clark was “dead on.”
“He knows exactly what goes through your body when you put that uniform on,” said McFadden. “He understands what the standard is and clearly the standard hasn’t been reached and you saw Ryan only basically hit on . . . defensive issues because that’s near and dear to his heart and if you’re a Steelers fan, if you grew up a Steelers fan, one thing you were always basically guaranteed to see what people flying around hitting people in the mouth . . . and that’s not what we’re seeing.”
McFadden says no matter what the offense was doing, you could also rely on the defense to be tough and that isn’t happening.
After the embarrassing loss to the Bengals on Sunday, former defensive lineman Chris Hoke also ripped into the defense on the Xtra Point on KDKA-TV saying “the Steelers are trying to play defense with ten guys,” in reference to the lack of effort by inside linebacker Devin Bush.
Former offensive lineman Ramon Foster responded to a tweet from ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on Monday that referenced wide receiver Chase Claypool talking about how playing music during practice would help improve their game.
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Foster posted a gif of the late Kobe Bryant saying “what?” with a confused face and a hand on face emoji.
Hall of Fame guard Alan Faneca responded to Foster with a gif of a man putting his hand over his face.
Steelers fan take their love of the Steelers seriously and are feeling all the negative emotions that come with a terrible showing, but for those that wore that black and gold and know what it takes to represent the legacy of the Steelers, they are taking it personally, and it hurts.
As McFadden says, “the lack of energy, the lack of toughness, the lack of individuals imposing their will from what we grew up loving to see from Pittsburgh,” is disheartening.