As the Steelers Turn: Angry $17 million receiver skips practice, QB terrified porn star — and oh, we have the undefeated Bucs on Monday night

… are the minority owners restless?

As if the Steelers 0-1-1 start and humbling loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was not bad enough, the team’s angry wide receiver lashed out of the team’s new offensive coordinator, then got into a Twitter spat with a former employee, and then skipped practice for no known reason; the team’s quarterback was named in a book by a porn star, who said that he terrified her in a swanky hotel 12 years ago; the team’s long-lost running back remained at large; and Coach Mike Tomlin said that nothing is amiss.

Welcome to the soap opera of a group of guys who used to be a premier professional football team. Perhaps they can regain that moniker with a win over the red-hot Tampa Bay Bucs on Monday Night Football next week.

But, if events this week are a prelude to that event, the Pittsburgh Steelers, whom almost everyone selected to breeze to another divisional championship, could be starting their season with an 0-2-1 record, something that is just eating away at the innards of Steeler Nation.

First, Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown is a superbly-talented but rather troubled wide receiver who had what some would consider a good day in the 42-37 loss to the Chiefs last Sunday. He had nine catches for 67 yards, but the $17 million a year man was upset because QB Ben Roethlisberger threw for 452 yards and three touchdowns.

Brown relieved some of his anger by confronting first-year offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner during the game, and that did not go over well.

Part of that was due to the feeling that Brown is no longer Roethlisberger’s go-to man. Second-year phenom JuJu Smith-Schuster is. Schuster pulled in 13 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown in the contest, and Roethlisberger also found tight-end Jesse James open often, and he caught five passes for 138 yards and one TD.

Brown was upset that in the two games, a tie with the Browns in the opener and the humbling loss to KC on the Steelers home turf, he had been targeted just 33 times. That is what raised his ire.

QB response

Roethlisberger tried to dampen the fire after the game. ““I know defenses are doing a good job of trying to take him away, doubling and putting extra people around him. So, other guys are stepping up,” he said. “Jesse James, JuJu obviously is doing some great things. I thought Switz [Ryan Switzer] did a good job tonight. I thought James Washington was making plays. So the other guys stepped up and did some good things.”

So, in essence, the QB was throwing to the open man, a basic premise in football … but not in Antonio-land.

Tweets problematic

Antonio also had a problem on social media. His anger boiled over at an ESPN writer, Jesse Washington, who had written a critical story about his relationship with his children, who are from three different mothers. After reading it, Brown threatened to slug the reporter, though he later apologized.

Then, on Monday, he responded to a tweet from a former Steeler employee who said, “"AB needs to thank his lucky stars, because he was drafted by a team that had Ben. And Ben got AB paid. You know darn well he wouldn't put up those numbers for other teams."

Instead of just letting that go, he responded by saying, “Trade me let's find out."

Then he did not show up for work on Monday, and apparently, he did not inform Coach Mike Tomlin as for the reason for the absence. The next day, Tomlin had to fend off questions from reporters about his whereabouts and the reason for missing practice. They received no answer.

His agent said that it had to do with a “personal matter,” but of course, he could have informed one of the coaches.

Then the QB was called a terrorist

Adding fuel to the fire was a book that is going to be released shortly by porn star “Stormy Daniels,” aka Stephanie Clifford. The woman who is currently suing the president of the United States said that she was introduced to Roethlisberger in 2006 at a dinner with Donald Trump at the Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe.

Trump apparently asked Roethlisberger to walk Daniels/Clifford to her room. At the door, she alleges that he asked for a “good-night kiss,” she writes in “Full Disclosure.”

She said this about the incident, “I was terrified. I am rarely terrified,” While she said that he would not leave, he eventually did, and there was no allegation that anything untoward occurred.

Still, this was a distraction that the team does not need as it prepares to face the hottest QB in the league — hotter than even Patrick Mahoney. Ryan Fitzpatrick has a QB rating of 151.5, highest in the league and just seven points behind perfection. [He also has an IQ of 150.]

He has twice been Offensive Player of the Week in the NFC, and had 819 yards in two games, highest in the league. That is worth 13.4 per attempt, also highest in the NFL.

How do the minority owners feel now?

Perhaps Steeler fans can remember when a slew of minority owners of the franchise tried to convince CEO/President Art Rooney II to fire Coach Mike Tomlin after losing to Jacksonville last January in and AFC playoff game.

What will happen if the record drops to 0-2-1 with the Ravens and Bengals on successive weekends?

Good question. Right now, it is total chaos, and Tomlin will be hard-pressed to put together a credible game plan — particularly on defense — for Monday night. The Steelers usually play well on MNF, and maybe they will bounce back.

However, Tampa Bay will be rocking, and winning down there will not be easy.

Such is the way the Steeler world turns in 2018.