PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The reaction has been disbelief as much as anything else for the latest comments from former Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson. He said he refused to go into a game last year because it was too cold at 41 degrees.
“When they give you that check, if it’s cold outside, you are going to the bank to cash it,” said former Bills general manager Doug Whaley on the Fan Morning Show.
During the Fan Morning Show, both Whaley and former NFL player Dorin Dickerson laughed about what Johnson said on the Sports and Suits Podcast about not entering a game with the Ravens last year.
“I wasn’t getting into no run plays, no passing plays or nothing,” Johnson said on the Sports and Suits Podcast. “It was cold. I’m on the sidelines standing there, going to the heater, back and forth, waiting for my name to be called.”
“End of the third going into the fourth, they were like ‘Tae, we need you.’ I was like, ‘nah, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me.’ Like, my legs, I didn’t wanna go out there and put bad stuff on film. It’s not like I didn’t wanna go into the game, but leading up to this point, I had been through so much. I was checked out mentally, so whatever happens, happens.”
“I told them I’m not going to go in, so I just sat on the bench, and that’s when they suspended me.”
This was some of the reactions from Steelers fans after Johnson signed a two-year, $36.7 million extension with the team just three years ago during training camp.
· “Good value”
· “Absurdly cheap”
· “Steelers got a steal”
· “This means stability, excellent news”
Mike Tomlin called him a significant piece at the time of the signing and two years later he was traded. He’s washed out with the Panthers, Baltimore (story above) and Houston. Now his career in a spiral, Johnson starts this season with the Browns.