Speaking of blowhards, Warren Sapp weighed in, predictably and on cue, on the Steelers abysmal performance last Sunday in Baltimore. Piling on as if it were his playing days, Sapp had this to say about the Steelers: "I have three things to say: Old, slow, and it's over."
Granted the Steelers did look old and slow vs. the Ravens, but that's beside the point. Whether they will continue to look old and slow will determine whether "it's over." One game, as putrid as it was, does not necessarily make an entire season. It's way too early to draw conclusions from one (hopefully) anomalous outing.
If Sapp was trying to stir controversy and provoke discussion, he succeeded, which is all any self-promoting blowhard aspires to do. Then again, Sapp has a reputation as a provocative ass and boorish lout. In February 2010, he was arrested in Miami Beach and charged with domestic battery. During his playing career, he was notorious for shooting off his mouth; insulting officials; confronting former Green Bay head coach Mike Sherman; and skipping through opposing teams' pre-game warmups, including a highly publicized incident before a Monday night game vs. the Steelers, on Dec. 23, 2002. That prompted the classic retort about Sapp and the Buccaneers from then-Steelers' safety Lee Flowers, who said after the Steelers' victory that night:
''They ain't nothing but paper champions. That's all they are,
and that's all they ever gonna be."
Never mind that the Buccaneers went on to win the Super Bowl that year. That's ancient history. What matters is the here and now, and whether the Steelers are ancient history. Time will tell, beginning Sunday at Heinz Field vs. the Seattle Seahawks, and "Young Money" and "Fast Money" (Antonio Brown, pictured below, and Mike Wallace) may have something to say about all that.
So, as if the Steelers didn't have enough motivation -- professional pride; self-respect -- they have to live down that debacle in Baltimore, along with all the knee-jerk "punditry" of assorted jerks, blowhards, talking heads, bloggers, opponents, observers and fans across the country. That fiasco in Baltimore is on tape for all the world to see, and, as coach Mike Tomlin said in his press conference last Tuesday:
"There's a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes. Obviously, last week, we were grape squashers. ... We got beat convincingly. However tough the meat is, we'll chew on it."
