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The final Monday Night game of the regular season turned into Ben Roethlisberger appreciation night. In what was likely the final home game of his career Ben went out a winner beating The Browns as he almost always did. If he does walk away after this season Ben’s career record against The Browns would end at 26-3-1. Not bad when you consider The Browns passed on drafting the Ohio native in 2004 for.. wait for it..Tight End Kellen Winslow who long ago stopped playing this game. But while Ben struggled in the game to get the offense going, something else stood out for me. The win guaranteed that for the 15th straight season as Head Coach Mike Tomlin will finish the season without a losing record. And in case you were wondering, yes that is an NFL record.
The list of coaches that have never started their careers with 15 straight non losing seasons includes..all of them not named Mike Tomlin. As much as Ben has been the cornerstone of the organization since being drafted in 2004, Tomlin has been the face and perhaps more importantly the “presence” of The Steelers since taking over in 2007, but don’t take my word for it, take the word of his players. This is what T.J. Watt had this to say about his head coach recently: “he’s just so commanding…you want to run through a wall after every meeting, just the way that he dictates to the whole meeting room the plan.” And his Tomlinisms have become quotes of legend: “the standard is the standard”, “ we want volunteers not hostages”, and whenever the bleep goes sideways he responds with one of my favorites “ we’ll own it”.
Tomlin is also the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl, leading his merry band of yinzers to the title in Super Bowl 43 at the age of 36. I was working post game for that Super Bowl and was in the Steelers locker room snagging some interviews when Tomlin walked in. I went right over to him but before I could even get out a question he turned to me and said in that voice “ I AM OFF THE CLOCK”. Noted!. I’ve had many great interactions with Tomlin. The first time I interviewed him we brought up his resemblance to the actor Omar Epps. His response? “I’ll allow it”. Classic. I once asked him why he drafted a punter out of Baylor and without hesitation he said.. knowing Baylor was my alma mater: “ well because as you know Trey Baylor had to punt a lot this season we knew he was very good at it.” When we talked to him in the 2019 draft about both Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell leave after the 2018 season he gave me another great one: “There’s been a cleansing if you will”. I’ve already heard some blow back from folks on social media who try to diminish what Tomlin has done by saying “ he’s had Ben the entire time of course he shouldn’t be losing. It’s like people have magically forgotten he managed a non losing season with someone named Duck Hodges starting at quarterback for 6 games in 2019. The other QBs that’s he’s found ways to manufacture wins with include the legends of Mason Rudolph, Landry Jones, Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon.
While The Steeler faithful are rightfully honoring the last home game of a legendary quarterback they should also be celebrating the continued excellence of an iconic Head Coach. Big Ben may be riding off into the sunset after the 2021 season but Tomlin will still be there, pumping out great quotes, motivating his players and holding himself to the standard he created. And for that.. all of western Pennsylvania should feel pretty damn optimistic about what the future holds at Heinz Field.
