# The 16th Annual Steelers March to the Super Bowl Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 9, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029 "2018-09-09T00:15:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/21 "2018-09-18T17:11:26Z")
Brown didn’t show at mandatory Monday meeting. Probably overblown by local news, but maybe it’s time to start over entirely. Aim for 2021 SB. Start playing all the new guys. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/22 "2018-09-18T17:38:40Z")
Based on what I’ve seen so far this year, it’s going to be kind of hard for them to “march to the Super Bowl” if they can’t even make the playoffs. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/23 "2018-09-18T18:44:05Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Based on what I’ve seen so far this year, it’s going to be kind of hard for them to “march to the Super Bowl” if they can’t even make the playoffs. I’m sure the players can afford to buy tickets to see it. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/24 "2018-09-18T18:49:43Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Based on what I’ve seen so far this year, it’s going to be kind of hard for them to “march to the Super Bowl” if they can’t even make the playoffs. They could theoretically march there to wherever the game is being held, they just won’t get to play in it. I keed, I keed. It’s early yet. Some of these teams that have had a rough start will turn things around. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/25 "2018-09-18T21:02:06Z")
Antonio Brown apparently skipped practice on Monday after getting into an argument with his OC during Sunday’s game. I’m pretty sure it’s just competitive juices flowing, but this year’s Steeler’s penchant for drama is putting a smile on my face. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/26 "2018-09-19T00:52:46Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Antonio Brown apparently skipped practice on Monday after getting into an argument with his OC during Sunday’s game. I’m pretty sure it’s just competitive juices flowing, but\*\* this year’s Steeler’s penchant for drama is putting a smile on my face.\*\* Same here. It’s like a slow motion implosion. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/27 "2018-09-19T16:46:25Z")
How long before the Stillers dump Brown, the Pats make him their \*next \*WR salvage project, and he finally gets a ring? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/28 "2018-09-19T17:25:38Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Same here. It’s like a slow motion implosion. I suspect that smile won’t still be there in December. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/29 "2018-09-19T23:31:37Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I suspect that smile won’t still be there in December. Perhaps, if they can fix that defense. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/30 "2018-09-20T00:11:51Z")
What IS Brown’s problem? He’s making 17 million a year – that’s almost twice what Sidney Crosby is getting paid for crissakes. (Yeah, I know it’s a completely different sport. But when you’re getting paid more than our most currently decorated athlete in the city, who’s the best in his sport, and you’re not happy, well, you might need to reexamine your priorities) Bell supposedly turned down 70 million – these guys are making money hand over fist, and they’re throwing tantrums and acting like primadonnas. What the FUCK is going on? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/31 "2018-09-20T01:52:44Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Bell supposedly turned down 70 million – these guys are making money hand over fist, and they’re throwing tantrums and acting like primadonnas. What the FUCK is going on? Making obscene amounts of money, becoming extremely famous, and having a crew of assistants/agents who are paid to kiss your butt 24/7 tends to give a person an extremely inflated sense of entitlement. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/32 "2018-09-20T01:56:49Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > these guys are making money hand over fist, and they’re throwing tantrums and acting like primadonnas. **What the FUCK is going on**? Free Agency. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/33 "2018-09-20T02:13:09Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Bell supposedly turned down 70 million – these guys are making money hand over fist, and they’re throwing tantrums and acting like primadonnas. What the FUCK is going on? Bell turned down a 5-year contract that guaranteed just $33 million, while Todd Gurley just signed a 4-year contract that guaranteed $45 million. Bell already played last year under the franchise tag at a below-market rate. Why should he sign a long-term deal that’s less than what he thinks he’d get as a free agent? And why should he play under the franchise tag (and risk jeopardizing that free agent deal) any more than he absolutely has to? You know who else is making money hand over fist? The Rooney family. Steelers ticket prices are consistently in the top third of the league ([cite](https://blog.ticketiq.com/blog/2013/08/2013-nfl-tickets-team-team-average-prices)). The team doesn’t offer their product at below-market rates. It’s a business, and Bell is a businessman. The more winnable games they lose, the more leverage Bell’s gonna have. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/34 "2018-09-20T02:14:55Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Making obscene amounts of money, becoming extremely famous, and having a crew of assistants/agents who are paid to kiss your butt 24/7 tends to give a person an extremely inflated sense of entitlement. Why is wanting to be paid market value “an extremely inflated sense of entitlement”? I wouldn’t do my job at below-market rates. Would you keep working if your employer offered to pay you a fraction of what your peers make? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/35 "2018-09-20T02:46:10Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Why is wanting to be paid market value “an extremely inflated sense of entitlement”? I wouldn’t do my job at below-market rates. Would you keep working if your employer offered to pay you a fraction of what your peers make? Bell isn’t asking to be paid “a fraction of his his peers are” (Actually, that’s not true, because 5/2nds is a fraction, but you know what I mean). Bell isn’t playing this year because being the 2nd or 3rd highest paid RB isn’t enough for him. He wants to be the highest paid, with the highest guaranteed amount, of any other RB in the league. That’s not “below market rate”. Don’t get me wrong, Bell should get every penny he can from the NFL (although that won’t endear him to his teammates at all). But let’s not pretend he is dissatisfied because he’s only making a “fraction of what his peers make”. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/36 "2018-09-20T05:32:16Z")
You ignored the entire “market value” majority of the post to emphasize a few words towards the end. Bell is unhappy because he’s not getting his value, and he’s not getting his value because the Steelers won’t allow him to see what the market would offer, while doing everything they can to ruin that value for Bell long-term. Bell is head and shoulders above any other RB in the league. He’s being paid relatively well while the Steelers run the tires off of him, so no other team will give him his value either. Waiting out gross abuse of the franchise tag system is a business decision for an elite player at a position that burns through players incredibly fast. Adrian Peterson made almost as much riding the bench for a season because he beat his child as Bell has made in his entire career. Le’Veon Bell has never even sniffed free agency while rushing for 250+ attempts almost every season he played over half the games, playing almost all offensive snaps. That’s insane abuse for a RB, and the Steelers will have control over 6 of the ~9 years he can expect at full production, without ever being able to see what he’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/37 "2018-09-20T05:44:10Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Don’t get me wrong, Bell should get every penny he can from the NFL (although that won’t endear him to his teammates at all). But let’s not pretend he is dissatisfied because he’s only making a “fraction of what his peers make”. I don’t know about that. The franchise tag guarantees him $14.5M in 2018 and nothing beyond that. That’s a fraction - less than one, even! - of the guaranteed $45M that Gurley got (for 4 years) and the guaranteed $30M that Johnson signed for (3 years), and it doesn’t offer any security if he gets injured this year (a real concern, given that he’s gotten 27-28 touches a game over the last two years). In the world of NFL running backs, Bell’s tender is a great offer. In the world of elite NFL backs, it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/38 "2018-09-20T11:43:07Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > You ignored the entire “market value” majority of the post to emphasize a few words towards the end. Bell is unhappy because he’s not getting his value, and he’s not getting his value because the Steelers won’t allow him to see what the market would offer, while doing everything they can to ruin that value for Bell long-term. A vast majority of players are not being paid your definition of “market value”. Almost any starting caliber player, if they signed a new contract today, would make more than the one they’re playing under. > [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Bell is head and shoulders above any other RB in the league. Bell is easily a top 3 RB. Saying he’s “head and shoulders” better than Gurley, Elliot, and Johnson, however, is just like the “fraction of his peers” hyperbole. Especially with how Conner is playing this year as Bell sits. I should expect that kind of homerism in a Steeler thread though. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/39 "2018-09-20T11:45:21Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Bell is head and shoulders above any other RB in the league. I am not so sure about that statement. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029/40 "2018-09-20T12:07:43Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > I don’t know about that. The franchise tag guarantees him $14.5M in 2018 and nothing beyond that. That’s a fraction - less than one, even! - of the guaranteed $45M that Gurley got (for 4 years) and the guaranteed $30M that Johnson signed for (3 years), and it doesn’t offer any security if he gets injured this year (a real concern, given that he’s gotten 27-28 touches a game over the last two years). In the world of NFL running backs, Bell’s tender is a great offer. In the world of elite NFL backs, it’s not. Again, of course a long term contract is going to guarantee him more money than the franchise tag. That’s kinda how contracts work. They’re long term. Hence more years. Hence more money. The guaranteed money he would make this year would make him the highest paid RB in the league (at least according to Sporttrac) for the year. That’s not really a fraction of what his peers are getting. But, again, I don’t have a problem with, and am actually quite enjoying, Bell holding out for a better contract and less work. It’s absolutely in his best interest to get as much guaranteed money as he can while he can, especially at the running back position. He’ll report at the latest he can to accumulate his year for free agency, and we’ll see what drama happens then. Should be fun to watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-16th-annual-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/821029.md?page=3)