Mike Tomlin Wants Steelers to Be Like McDonald's

The Pittsburgh Steelers begin a new era in 2022 now that Ben Roethlisberger has ridden off into the sunset. Mike Tomlin, however, remains and so the Steelers are in good hands even without their franchise quarterback. But Roethlisberger's absence means the margin for error is slimmer than ever in the Steel City, and this upcoming season may very well be Tomlin's most challenging as a coach yet.

The head coach spoke to Ryan Clark on the Pivot Podcast about the expectations he holds for his team heading into its first season without Big Ben under center since George W. was still in office. Tomlin is known for cooking up some off-beat metaphors but this one about McDonald's is pretty impressive even for him.

I don't really understand what this means? Is he saying the Steelers should be an international brand? Because it kind of feels like they are, at least for folks of a certain age. Cowboys-Steelers was all the rage for a long time. Just ask my dad, who grew up in Detroit but can name every member of the 1975 Steelers Super Bowl team.

Perhaps it's about consistency. Everywhere in the world, a No. 1 at McDonald's means a Big Mac with fries and a soda. So it's like no matter what, you get the same thing? So no matter what, Steelers football should produce the same outcome every time?

See, now that makes a bit more sense, but this Steelers football Tomlin talks about hasn't won anything of note in over a decade. Obviously there's something to be said about making the playoffs in seven of the 11 seasons that have passed since they lost the Super Bowl to the Packers. But does Tomlin want Steeler football to be two consecutive Wild Card losses followed by a few seasons of .500 play before restarting the cycle? That sounds more like a McChicken to me, man.

Anyways, thanks to Tomlin for giving us some good offseason content with this metaphor. It obviously isn't that deep. But very little content this time of year is!