January 9, 2023 • 41 mins
Wolf and Max go to the phones on a victory Monday as they continue to break down the victory over the Browns.
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
This is in the Locker Room with Wolf and Starks
on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your
Neighborhood Forward Store. The F one is the official truck
of the Pittsburgh Steeler the Action fig Big rush. He
he's head and he's so he got away. Gosh, how
did he do that? He's at the fifty and takes
(00:35):
the slide for a first down at the Steeler forty
six yard line. Oh, his elbow was down. They're those
were down, so maybe it's not a scramble for a
first down. They're bringing it back. They're not even gonna
take a look at it. Shotgun Snappy's back, big rush,
They got him and Daddy goes and that's Larry Jogan Job,
(00:56):
the former Brown fighting the hand at once FEI. Shotgun
snap on third and nine, Big rush again and it's
t J. Watt and they get him to the ground.
Watson gets the shotgun snap pressure, he rolls left, stops,
he's hit and he's sacked. A meeting at the quarterback,
including Alex Heismith at the seventeen yard line. Second and nine,
(01:18):
big rush, he's head, he is sacked. A ball comes
out Cleveland dives on it. Shotgun snap, here's a big
rush and Watson is sacked by Alex Highsmith back across
midfield at the Cleveland forty five yard line. High Smith
came in fourth in the conference in sacks, and he
(01:39):
has just been a fantastic performer in this one. The
Steelers defense has performed well. And he's running around and
he's hitting that dime by Captain Camp whoa, and there's
no roughing. With one second left, they say that's it.
The game is over on another sack, back to back
(02:00):
sacks by the Steelers defense that played superbly. That's the
end of the game. With the final score Pittsburgh fourteen. Max.
That was a menagerie of Sackarola's buddy, you know what
I mean? That was a grounding pound. It was like
a season's worth of highlights. One moment, it just it
(02:22):
just it was like it was like another one and
another one. DJ Kalin would be proud, because you know
his wolf likes to do. He comes storming into the
studio with like forty seconds left till we come back
and he goes, hey, can you play all seven of
the sacks here? Of course, of course, no problem. Thanks
for the plenty of time here, I'll get it that.
(02:44):
No, no no, no, you got him right there on the
wall there there there in these cassette things. You just
play him right. What are those fan Daego circle things
with the lines? Is that at five? Yeah? Just pick
one out, just throw it on there. No, you got
those Alex Highsmith sacks on vinyl? Yeah, exact exactly. Oh
you don't listen to them on your on your on
(03:06):
your CD walk man like I do, Anti skip optional.
You guys are killing me man. Yeah, okay, there we go.
But I but I have happy to know that Wolf
does have a walk band that does have the auto reverse.
That's nice. It's a nice advancement there, that's exactly. You
(03:31):
don't have to open it up and flip it over,
you know what I'm saying. Yet it just boom, it
does it for you. We're going to the phone lines.
I gotta set the beat down here. We got Nathaniel
in Los Angeles. Nathaniel, you're in the locker room. Take
your shots, buddy. Hello, Nathaniel are you there? Yeah? You're
(03:57):
breaking up buddy, you Yeah, you better call back and Daniel, Yeah,
it's just breaking back. We'll get you right on. Absolutely.
All right, let's go to Everett in Fort Wayne. Everett,
you're in the locker room, my friend. Hey, guys, how
you doing today? Doing okay as well? You know, it's
(04:20):
kind of a uh melancholy day, but we we really
came alive there at the end, and it just seems
like it's a season of what could have been versus
what happened, no doubt about it. Yeah, well, you know,
there was a lot of growth. I have to admit it,
(04:42):
um that the offense came a long way in the
second half. I'm still still a little iffy on Canada though,
so I hate to be the naysayer, but I'm still
a little uh skittish on bringing him back. What do
you guys think? Go ahead, Max, you want to go Yeah, Well,
(05:02):
I mean, you know, like you said, I mean, I mean,
coach Canada that Matt Canada did did ah did did
a nice job of adjusting uh late in the year,
and you know, he he definitely showed some growth. But
do I think it's enough for him to keep his job?
(05:23):
That that's tough for me to say. Um, well, go ahead, Max,
I'm sorry I shouldn't. Well, here's the point I was
gonna make. We don't know all the ins and outs
of what's going on behind the scenes, and you know,
there's there's you get commentary, but they don't have the
ability to what audible or they don't have the ability
to run this and that we don't know exactly what
(05:43):
is and isn't. I do know this that offense improved
a great deal from the bye week on. And when
you take in fact, uh, you've got no Ben and
you now have a rookie, so you're you got a
rookie going in there. There's a lot of things that
behind the scenes, we don't know exactly how that all
(06:03):
played out. But I do know this, they showed constant
improvement from the buy out. In my mind, I think
he's done a good job in in doing what he
needed to do to get this offense untracked enough. Now,
I don't know the decision making process. I don't know
all all things involved in that, but I do know
I think Matt Canada did a good job from the
(06:25):
buy out. Yeah, but was it good enough to keep
said job? That That's where that's my that's that's my
only thing where I say, I don't know all of
the parameters. But you know what I'm saying, like like
you kind of said. But at the same time, that's
gonna be one of the big questions that has to
(06:46):
be answered. Um you know, was it was it enough
to say, you know what, we can go in this direction,
but I don't know. I can't. I can't confidently say
it either way. Um, if that makes anybody feel or
worst effort about that. But you know, because like you said,
the first half was just theirs was the first half.
(07:06):
It was bad, it was anemic, it was it was
not moving. But then you see towards YEA and even
and even you know, there was some sputtering, uh you
know in in this game. Um, in kind of that
beginning part of the game. It was a little slow
to get started. But we also know that we had
fast starts the last couple of weeks. So it's it's
one of those it's a balancing act. And also who's
(07:28):
available who who who can actually go out and gets
the other thing? You know, we need we need another
descendant of Andy Reid or Mike Shanahan. I think, well,
the only the only thing the Chiefs have run that
I you know, one of the big things it was
a spinning huddle. Did you see that huddle? That was
(07:48):
creativity is finest. I loved it. That was that was amazing.
But I'm sitting there going who comes up with that?
You know? I mean, I don't know. I'll just I'll
just close it out. What's saying. I appreciate the work
you guys do. It's it's very insightful to listen to
your show and uh, we'll just see what brings. Absolutely
(08:11):
absolutely don't have a great offseason, thank you. Ever, I
appreciate no doubt. All right, you know what we gotta Oh,
we gotta goldie. He's a little bit of an oldie,
but a goldie here in the locker room. Let's go
to Jason from New Hampshire. Jason, how are you, my friend?
And thank you for the the the the syrup made
(08:33):
its way here, my friend. Absolutely absolutely, did you guys
get Max is? Because who knows if Max was actually
gonna get that sirrup, whether or not you took it all?
You know, I believe there was only one. Yeah, did
I just give that away? Yeah? Yeah, exactly. That's it's
(09:01):
called the wolf. It's the wolf ps that owes you money.
Did I forget to send that onto you. Max. Yeah,
I don't. I don't know. It's funny you saw me
every week. Oh you know what, I'm taking chicken and
(09:23):
waffles one time too many. Yeah, I might have broke
into your bottle my front. Yeah, all good sharing is carring.
But thank you Jameson. That should have thought of it. Yeah,
you got to get that extra weight Downding on me.
(09:44):
Yeah you're breaking up bad now, Jason. Oh yeah, Unfortunately
it's a it's a little crackle, a little crack. Yeah, okay,
I try to not move around. We got gremlins in
the system. Oh we got the grumlins are back. Are
Oh that's wrong? I hate that are bad and ugly.
(10:07):
Then yeah, I'll try to try to go quick on it.
Then good. I think the feeling that we were all
left with because I mean, winning the last last four
in a row, I mean left us with a great feeling.
Um bad you guys already so gun. The officiating with
horrible on both sides of it, unfortunately, um and the
(10:30):
ugly was getting out of red Lot, trying to get
back here at work on time. I got three hours
to sleep on the road, you know, Oh brother, Yeah,
all right, anyway. I don't mean to sound last todays
ago and not a lot of energy, but that's where
(10:50):
I'm left with. So I hope you guys have it
on some day. Thank you very much, Jason. We appreciate
your brother so much. Absolutely, all right, thank you. We'll
move it on here. Let's see. Hopefully the Gremlins aren't
going all the way to North Carolina because that's where
Cuban Dan is. Cuban you're in the locker room with
and the Ninjas again, I can go ahead and hang
(11:12):
up if North Carolina is gonna bother you, No, not
at all. You're sounding good. You're sounding good, man, you know,
I was just telling less Like I understand there's a
certain level of disappointment that goes around with flack of
and his lack of performance and the whole thing about
us not getting into the playoffs. But man, I just
(11:33):
I can't help but be happy and excited. I'm like,
I look at the next two to five years, and
the foundations are in place for a team that's going
to be really dynamic to can compete with anybody in
the NFL. Like I like, we don't know, we don't
know who's gonna be back. Who's not gonna be back?
(11:53):
What changes are gonna be made? But for the for
the horsemen that are that are there for the for
the long haul. I think we're in a really good place.
And I just I keep looking to the future and
I find it. Oh, I don't want to say it,
but I find a lot of comfort in it. Go ahead, Max,
take a shot at it, buddy. Yeah, No, I mean
I I agree, like you said, the growth and the
(12:15):
youth that grew was tremendous. Especially look no further than
the offensive side of the ball. Uh you know, I
know we talked about Kidney Pickett and he is the
Steelers Joe Green great performance at work because it's not
called the Rookie of the Year anymore, uh, winner, But
you think about the contributions that George Pickens had, the
(12:38):
relationship they made second year guys, Pat Friar, move, Naji
Harris Dan right, yeah, any word on him. It wasn't
an a c L was it. We don't know yet.
Stay tuned because we're going to carry Mike Tomlin press
conference after this show, Okay, alright, yeah, yeah, So so
(13:00):
we don't know, and that that was you know something
that was frustrating yesterday. I was sad to see, um,
you know, such a great season by Pat But I
mean when you think of just that kind of just
a group of guys that that that makes that makes
it very awesome. And we still didn't get to see
a Calvin Austin. So imagine when he gets healthy he
reinserts himself back into it um and then defensively, like
(13:23):
right Mark Robinson came in, gave some quality reps um
at the end of the year between last a lot
of it this week. Yeah, there's a there's a lot
of exciting things to look forward to uh next season,
and I'm excited to see what pieces move around during
the off season and how how we better the roster
(13:44):
beyond what we are at now. But like I said,
I am I I just can't. I can't bring myself
to look at the negative because I only see positive
on all of this. And as as much as as
much as Timon always says that the non losing record
doesn't mean anything to him, I'm happy that all the
players didn't have a losing record on their watch because
(14:08):
I from what I've heard, and it goes two ways
depending on what pundit you're talking to, But it seemed
to mean a lot to them that they kept that intact. Absolutely, absolutely,
That's still something that you want because you care a
great deal about the man that's leading you, and it's
just something to rally around. Look, you understand the standard
(14:30):
is the super Bowl. You understand you want to get
to the playoffs. You understand all these things. But the
fact of the matter is it's sometimes you come up short,
and there's a series of times that they have not done.
You know that what at six we have not what
six seasons in a row without a playoff? Went okay,
I get that. But at the same time, all you
gotta do is look at Cleveland and Cleveland goes back
(14:52):
to Cleveland, uh, sixteen and one in season finales and
you know, against the Steelers, and you wonder, what's the
difference between them, you know, being one in seventeen or
one in sixteen, and Steve has been sixteen and one,
and it's the guy at the top. Yeah, I would
say ownership that trickles down to coaching, the trickle down
to the players, because it all starts at the top,
(15:15):
it really does, and that consistency is everything. So um man,
That's that's all I had. I just wanted to I
just wanted to share my happiness and my excitement with
you guys today. I think it's great, be happy, be
excited about it because the future looks good. It does.
All right, you guys have a great day. Right all right,
thank you so much. Dan. What do you say we
(15:35):
get take another one? Here? We got just enough time,
all right, we got just enough time. Yeah, let's do it.
All right, Let's go to Nathaniel and go No, we're
going one and Charleston wine. You're up in the locker room, buddy. Hey,
good morning, guys. I got doing We're doing a little
(15:58):
flair that throw, a little flair, little pinch Yeah, nope, no, probably.
I just want to say I want to appreciate, appreciate
you guys, Appreciate the Ninjas and everything you gots dined
for the season. Without you, guys, I don't know what
stealing Nation would be at. Well. Yeah, you can sit
here and go well a long way, a little a
(16:19):
little better math. Uh, guys who fit in the room closet. Uh,
you should have seen the two of us sitting in
for Missy yesterday exactly. Oh, yes, that that didn't look
good on the scoreboard. Did it didn't look good in
the jumbo truck? No? I mean well, I mean, I
mean my hair did look good. I'm okay before it,
(16:42):
but it's all good. You have bad head, it's okay,
go ahead one or just before. Max makes me feel
completely you know, like uh like, oh, I'm just horrible.
I am yesterday, Um, yesterday. So I think the rears
(17:05):
were hard, but you think the last two weeks they're
trying to get at the captain cam because the last
two weeks THO was called against something. I don't know
what they're seeing. Man, you're trying to kill the captain man. Yeah,
that was a tough one. Um. And you know, obviously
Wolf is still still got a little bit of hot
blood for that. Yeah, smolder, smoldering, that's right, steaming about it.
(17:30):
But you know it is something where you hear t
you know, you hear about rafts and who the previous
team I have submitted something where they were calling into
questions so that they were scrutinizing Cam a little bit
more than everybody else. But I also I feel like
that was a makeup called Wolf, and I was Yeah,
I think it was a makeup call because they missed
(17:52):
that Larry Ogan Joeb face mask sack so bad that
they had to find one. And if it even came
close to questionable where they could pull out a rule
and justify it, I think we're gonna do it in
those moments. So I think that was just a victim
of circumstance for Cam versus them coming after him, even
though they do tend to do that. Because I had
(18:14):
a teammate or two back in the day that also
had that problem, James Harrison and Ryan Clark, both both
of them, both of them loved, loved when they saw
FedEx packages in their in their and their lockers on Mondays.
It was I mean, it was worse than it's It's
worse than getting a random you know, the random P test.
They yeah, like that that that's about as bad as
(18:37):
it gets, you know what I'm saying. So but but yeah,
now I think I think it's more circumstantial than than
them coming directly after Cam because I think Cam plays
a very physical brand of football, but he also plays
a very clean brand. Yeah, I'm thinking I'm thought the same.
It's seeing that old because you know, he's the order
of guy on the line. I'm thinking of seeing why
the old man moving that fast, So we gotta get
(18:58):
something knowing him absolutely, because we gotta we gotta take
a break. But today we're gonna be on until the
end of the week. I think Max you staying, You're
staying all week? Right? Yes, I am? Are you? Okay?
Well if you are, then eye Wall okay, okay there
I mean West will be in the control room finding
(19:20):
Grillmins by himself. Uh, but we'll step aside. We'll continue
to take your calls and also talk more about this game,
the end of the season, what we saw where where
things went good, bad and ugly Here in the locker
room Radio. This is in the locker Room with Wolf
(19:54):
and Starks on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio presented
your neighborhood Forward Store. The F one is the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was gonna say, I'm
appreciative of every guy in this locker room, every coach,
every staff member. Um, you know, through the bumps, through
(20:16):
through the rocky road, everybody just stuck together and just
kept trying to get better. Um. You know, that's something
we can build on the future. But the team doesn't
look the same every year, and guys move on, Guys retire,
guys get traded. Uh, you bringing new guys. Uh, It's
(20:37):
just a different formula every year. Um. But I'm just
so appreciative of every guy. Um, just trying to get
better every single day. Um. And Uh, I can't say
thank you enough the Steelers Nation for going on this
journey this year. Uh and watching a lot of guys grow.
(20:57):
How about that. I love that Max. You know, he
just spoke the words so very well and the deep
appreciation that he has for the organization, for the fan
base that supports the organization, for his teammates. Uh. There's
there's not too many guys like Captain Cam left in
the NFL like that. Yeah, No, I mean he is.
(21:20):
He's a throwback style type of player. Um. He's a
guy who embraced the traditions, the standards, the history, and
he continues to embody all of those things that that
were set before before he even came on this earth.
(21:40):
You know, he's embodied that he and he took the
stories of his elders. You know, he listened to the
Joe Green's right, the mel blunts, the guys who came
around and took those stories to heart and wanted to
create that same atmosphere to where people didn't even question
because they knew that that's just Steelers for a ball
(22:00):
and Um, so it's great to hear him. Great that
he is a leader of this spot. Now you know,
it's tough. Every season is his own journey and uh,
which leads to decisions reflections thoughts. Um, you know every year, Uh,
you know we're gonna go through this. Everybody has decisions
(22:23):
to make, just like the organization has decisions to make.
So it's gonna be very interesting you know what happens
moving forward, Um, with a lot of guys. But you know,
for the moment right now, you're just appreciative of the
journey that that has just been walked because it was
one that looked rocky, it looks scary, it looked troublesome,
(22:46):
and they smoothed it out, they spoke it up, came
out on the other si other side of it in
a very strong way. You leave with a positive taste
in your mouth going into the off season, not a
negative one, not a woe is me? The sky is
all in right, Um, this is this is something to
build upon with with your young nucleus and your veteran leadership.
(23:10):
You've got to have a balance of both, um in
order to succeed in this league. Absolutely. All right, let's
go back to the phones. We got Nathaniel out in
l A. Nathaniel, you're in the locker room, brother, How
you doing. Good morning, Good morning morning. Oh I was
just I don't know how I don't uh yeah, it
(23:34):
could be yeah, come on ahead, Yeah, anyway, I just
you know, summarized in the season. You know, I thought
we had a we had a good season, you know,
because you know, some disappointment of course, but that's always
you know, going to be that when you don't achieve
the goal. But I think we have so much to
look forward to, you know, I'm just happy with the development.
(23:59):
I can't say enough about you know, coach Domlin. He
I think he's just one of the best of all time,
you know, I mean we had so many opportunities, you know,
like you say to to Tank, you know, after the
buyer or whatever, before the buy you know, you know,
you hear so many people, you know, well why you know,
(24:20):
why make the playoffs? Why I go to the playoffs?
Just to get you know, healed up in in Buffalo,
but I'm not sure that would have been the case.
You know, we were better than the team that went
up there the first time. You know that, you know,
so I mean you know, you you you you throw
caution to the wind, and you know you see where things,
(24:41):
you know turn out. You know that last Multimore game
that you know, we had so many opportunities. I mean,
you can look at so many different we just needed that,
we just needed one. We came so close, you know,
and you know we had to rely on people or
other things, and you know those are things that will
be on your control. But but I think that over
(25:03):
you know, we we had a We had a very
good I'm happy with you know, the way things are
looking in the way they're going to be looking in
the future. I think things are looking up, don't you Max, Yeah,
I completely agree. I think when you look at the
direction that we're going now, you you can't you can't
be upset. You you have to be empowered enlightened by it.
(25:26):
Because I think this team showed us a lot of
what they're made of. And I thought that was one
of the things that I look at and I say
you know what, I don't feel. I don't feel bad
out now. Was I nervous coming out training camp? Absolutely,
I'm not gonna lie to You're not gonna sit here
and try and even pretend that I knew this was
gonna happen. But when it did happen, it was just
(25:48):
tremendous to watch because you saw a team grow in
front of our eyes. You saw a team become a
team instead of a bunch of guys just trying to
make it. You know, I thought that was something that
I was really ecstatic about. And the way that they
came together. The hallmarks and the principles of things we
saw stingy, rushed defense, running and having a bruising ground
(26:12):
attack like those are hallmarks and tenants of Steelers football.
And you know they worked to establish that and they created,
um the standard. They became the standard bearers because you know,
Wolf can't get out there, I can't get out there.
Are our our our teammates that we played with, well,
thank god, I could say all of my teammates now
(26:33):
has been finally retired. Um, you know are not there,
and so so you trust the next group, the next
movement of guys to go and carry out what you
remember about Steelers football, and they and they did it.
They did it. They did in their own special way.
But they ended up getting there and and it was
(26:54):
refreshing and and very glad to see that they bought in,
because that's all is a question. You wonder will there
won't they? And these guys did and will absolutely and
agree totally agree as other than you know, I'm just
you know, the referee, the the officiating was bad. You know,
(27:17):
the call on I mean, you know, I mean Rocan
Smith slammed. Can he ticket to the ground, give me
a concussion? No call you know on that? And then
you know Cam I mean, come on anyway, Yeah, yeah
it is. We still want you guys. Have we still one?
(27:38):
We still one and in in in high fashion at that.
Thank you very much. Yes, you're right about that and
annual thank you for calling brother. Okay, you have a
great day, both of you. All right, my friends, all right,
let's roll on. We got ire in Chicago. How you doing,
but hey, what's going on to see Chicago? How we
(28:03):
are doing fine? How are you doing good? Pretty good?
Pretty good? Max? Just still for you so bad getting
up so early in the morning and doing all that stuff,
but we love you for that, for a wonderful guy.
It's amazing. How a compliment it just feels so so
not complimentary, sarcastic. It's so full of sarcasm and dripping
(28:28):
with sarcasts But that's okay what it sounds like. You know,
on this side, I got love for you, absolutely, absolutely,
And then let's get down the backs attacks say this
is a message out distill the nation worldwide. Hey guys,
we know that many of us are hurting at the moment,
and we get it, but we need to stop complaining
(28:50):
about it. Man up. We gotta remember from nineteen thirty
three to nineteen seventy two, which is thirty nine years,
the thing was a laughing stock of the NFL because
we are never want to playoff game. To the nineteen
seventy four, which is nine is insteads have been the
envy of the NFL, being the first team in NFL
history to win back to back footballs twice, to win
(29:12):
four Footerbowls and sixties, to win six Super Bowls in
NFL history, to win the Super Bowl at the sixth seed,
to win with only three head coaches. So in the meantime,
in between times. We need to be thankful for still
the nation and what it is comments. I like it
that you put that together nicely. That's a nice package there,
(29:32):
my friend Max. Ye, No, okay, I know if you're
an answer on top of that, top of that, Okay, yeah, No,
I mean I think I think you're right, c R.
I mean, this is this is not an easy process,
and I think a lot of people kind of lose
sight of that. Right, Um, you've had eighteen years of
one quarterback leading this organization. Was going to be in
(29:54):
the Hall of Time about that, and and you and
you and you have to go through trans aition like
we see it all the time with other teams, right,
how many times have we seen it with Miami Cleveland?
You know, Houston's going through it right now where they're
they're just lost, uh, you know, and even the Jets.
The Jets, look how many quarterbacks they went through this
season and we only had to go through to one
(30:16):
of them being the rookie, and that rookie ended up
panning out and being consistent. We didn't have to bench him,
We didn't have to tell him how to how to
conduct an interview. Right, he wasn't doing what he wasn't
supposed to do in the off season. Like, that's one
of the things. We're very blessed and fortunate, and I
think sometimes we lose sight of of how good that is. Now,
(30:38):
Is it a super Bowl every year? Yes, I know
what your standard is, Right when you have six lombardis
sitting in a case that everybody can see in the
stadium every time they go in, it gets a bit
daunting to say that this is the standard. But at
the end of the day, coming coming out there and
winning games sixteen years, not a losing record. I mean,
you know that's just unheard of, right that that's that's
(31:00):
not supposed to happen. UM, and franchises, it happens rarely. Um.
But once again, we're in a position that we could
be the Green Bay Packers. Right with Aaron Rodgers, you know,
we could go to these games and still not make
it to the Super Bowl. He could win m vps.
Then you have turmoil. He doesn't like his receivers, he
didn't show up the practices, and the next thing you know,
(31:22):
you're below five. All these things can happen. But but, but, but,
but we don't have those things happening so I think
that's where Steeler fans have to take that, you know,
opportunity and say, you know what, I know, I'm complaining.
I know I have a high expectation of this team,
but this team still delivers at the end of the day.
Well said Max said, Hey, I gotta go. But a
(31:44):
quick shout out to Cublan. Dan also shout out the one,
hey one, you need to get me a call, but
they ain't heard, all right that. Yeah, we went did
that game in Atlanta, and you know we need to
talk about that. So in the main time and it's
way time. Here we go. Here we go. Very good,
(32:04):
Thank you man, appreciate it. Max. We gotta go to break.
We got love you, bro. You got Herman Sacramento and
Richard in Washington will be back after the break. We'll
take you guys and then we'll wrap it up. All
right there, did you you heard the man? This is
(32:34):
in the locker room with Wolf and Starks on ESPN
Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
All right, let's move on here. We got Richard and Washington. Richard,
you're in the locker room. Take it away. Good morning,
(32:54):
good morning, real quick, wolf Um, I'm gonna get my
good bad luckily real quick. The good ones that we
had a any season that was we didn't make the playoffs,
and the ugly ones we lost those few games in
the beginning of a season that we should have won.
And the officiating on these roughing the past to cause
wonder if the competition committee is gonna get together for
flactor on the quarterbacks. But real quick, I want to
(33:15):
give a shout out to west Bula. I remember the
power bid on the guy that got you to sign
my terrible Tale. We'll owe you that Barbie to ribbed in.
Let me get it to you if for Nord. Will
you guys have a good season and I cannot wait
to hear you guys again. God bless and God speed
to you all. Thank you so much. Wow, that was great.
Nice job Richard Man coming strong in the locker room.
(33:39):
Cut of size. Johnny even got a shout out. Johnny
got a shot. Johnny always gets a shot out Johnny
and Johnny is the man. Well, let's keep it rolling.
We got Herman Sacramento going back out to California. You're
in the locker room. Brother. Hey, thanks, guys. That's a
tough act to following. Man, can't offer you any rasons
or anything, but we gotta Max and we gotta scam going.
(34:03):
You see what we're getting. We're getting treats from the
from the fans exactly except for I don't get to
see the treats. So sorry about that, you guys. I
just I just want to, you know, say thanks for
(34:25):
a great season you guys offered us. Man. You know,
it's a great forum to come to and to talk
to you guys and stuff, and just to learn more
about Steelers football. Um. The second thing I want to
I want to say grat coach Mike. I mean, he
had a unbelievable run with the Steelers so far. Man.
I mean he's just he's he's just unbelievable coach Man.
(34:45):
You know, we uh, we need to really appreciate him.
And the third thing is those roughing of pastors and
and you know Cam got ripped like the last two
weeks man about like coming off the pile, you know,
getting a per so file. And then also you know
what the roughing pastor yesterday. It may no you didn't
like slam the quarterback down. I just don't know where
(35:06):
that came from from. Um. And then lastly, you know,
are actually one, I have two more little fun but
I'm really, you know, exstatic about their future. Man. We
just uh, we got a lot of good young players
that are just gonna only get better and and we
have great you know, I believe we have great coaching
on both sides of the ball. So UM, I just yeah,
(35:28):
I really, um, I'm looking forward to next year. And then, UM,
you know, the other thing is is um Canada. You know,
I I know everybody wants them gone, but you know,
we we made some good strides in the last like
seven eight nine weeks, and you know, I just uh,
you know, I think we need to look really hard
at that one. Um. But you know that's my personal opinion.
(35:52):
But yeah, I just appreciate you guys, and thanks for
the calling man. Thank you so very much. No, thank you,
We have appreciate it. Of course, we love doing it
as well. That's the other thing we have enjoyed it.
Stealer Nation, you guys give us so much. We're just
happy that we can somewhat give a little bit of
that back. To you. We we appreciate it, um, you
(36:15):
know greatly, no questions about it. Steelers Nation is the best. Look.
I've been doing this a while, and uh, I've never
been disappointed by them, whether their turnout, there, their vocalizations
at the stadium. They're rabid defense of the all things
black and gold. Hey, listen, it's just great stuff. And
I have such enjoyment and meeting so many great Steelers
(36:38):
fans over the years. It's been my privilege, believe you me,
because uh, you know, God just allowed a guy, just
a guy like me to go and do what what
I've been able to do in playball, and it's just
been such a pleasure. Um. And then then to have
fellow brothers like Max, it's been great to be able
to hang out with you all what the last couple
of years here and do what we do. And I
(37:01):
still don't know how you you do that trip each
and every week. Man, It's amazing to me. You're still
standing the sacrifices that we make right for for the
the opportunity to be with those that we enjoy being around.
So it is not a heavy lift, um, even though
I may act like it at times. Um. But but
(37:24):
I enjoy it, Wolf, it is it is truly a
lot of fun to do it, and to of course
to bring the Steelers nation. You know, our love, our
passion for this game and and and our team. So
you know, it's it's just par for the course, you know, absolutely, Max,
I gotta know what do those frequent flyer miles look
like that? I mean, like Europe, you probably gotten frequent
(37:47):
flyer miles built up now, I mean you might be
able to buy the naming rights after Acqua one day
exactly because you see that Start Start Start stadium, brought
to you by brought to you by flight miles. So no,
it will be Europe this year, guys, I'm taking the
(38:10):
family to Europe. I've decided on it that I'm using
my my points for good Brannie points from my form
my family. Who thinks I'm estranged? All right, we got
we got two minutes. Where are you gonna go? Paris? Parish? Dog, Yeah,
(38:31):
take take taking their taking the girls to Paris. Yeah,
my oldest Waverley, she's she's wanted to go, she's obsessed
with So we're we're gonna do Paris for spring break
for the girls. Like Max, you'll I told this to
Wolf before the show. But you'll you'll get a kick
out of this. I was talking to our buddy Alvaro Martine.
Of course we will join us tomorrow at eleven o'clock
(38:52):
here in the locker room. And uh, Alvarro like myself
and like yourself as well, to Max, you know, look girl,
dad right, Uh Varrow has a couple of girls. You
have a couple of girls. I've got a fifteen month
old and another one on the way and may both
gonna be girls. One girl. The next one coming a
girl as well too. And we were having this vacation
conversation and Alvarro said to me, you have to bring
(39:12):
this up tomorrow. He said, you got a wife, You're
gonna have two daughters. He said, you gotta take them
to France at some point on a vacation. He said,
it's the best place to take the women in your life. Really.
Ye oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I've taken my wife before.
My wife and I have gone together, and actually Quincy
technically went with us. She was she was in tim Stemmach.
(39:33):
She but but she was not on this earth yet separated.
So so yeah, so we've been once and and it
was it was spectacular. So we figured the girls are
ready now to go, so we're gonna take them fun.
I mean, you're gonna go from youren go from the
combine in Indianapolis and the dead of winter with myself
(39:54):
and Dale Lolly and Matt. William said, I mean you're
gonna leave all that behind about to France with the family.
I mean, that's gonna be a tough turner. Yeah, it is,
you know, you know, I mean, just think about this.
I'll just have baguettes and croissants, said, onion soup because
they don't call it. They don't call it French onion soup,
and France they just call it onion soup. Uh so,
(40:14):
and and and I'll have freats since they don't call
them French fries. And and I'll have all the history
and art and everything historical to lead me to my
own version of da Vinci code by the end of it. Um.
But yeah, now, well before we go, before we go, Max,
real quick, before you wrap this up, all right, make
sure when you get over there, you make sure to
(40:36):
tell the French, now go away, all right, don't you
a thicken time? Great? Oh that I will scream that
from the top top of the Arc de Trillon. Uh
for sure. All right, hey, that has been a show today.
(40:58):
Once again, we're here throughout the rest of a week
in the locker room. Like we said, if you're missing
any of the show, feel free to go like subscribe
and download at your favorite podcast locations. And if you
don't have a favorite, go ahead, stop on by the
Steeler's mobile app of the iHeart Radio app and you
can get it there. He's Wolf, I'm Max, and we
had Johnny there behind the board telling me everything I
(41:21):
need to know about being a French tourist and being
totally American. Uh. You've hit in the locker room today.
Enjoy your day and we'll see you tomorrow.
This is in the Locker Room with Wolf and Starks
on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your
Neighborhood Forward Store. The F one is the official truck
of the Pittsburgh Steeler the Action fig Big rush. He
he's head and he's so he got away. Gosh, how
did he do that? He's at the fifty and takes
(00:35):
the slide for a first down at the Steeler forty
six yard line. Oh, his elbow was down. They're those
were down, so maybe it's not a scramble for a
first down. They're bringing it back. They're not even gonna
take a look at it. Shotgun Snappy's back, big rush,
They got him and Daddy goes and that's Larry Jogan Job,
(00:56):
the former Brown fighting the hand at once FEI. Shotgun
snap on third and nine, Big rush again and it's
t J. Watt and they get him to the ground.
Watson gets the shotgun snap pressure, he rolls left, stops,
he's hit and he's sacked. A meeting at the quarterback,
including Alex Heismith at the seventeen yard line. Second and nine,
(01:18):
big rush, he's head, he is sacked. A ball comes
out Cleveland dives on it. Shotgun snap, here's a big
rush and Watson is sacked by Alex Highsmith back across
midfield at the Cleveland forty five yard line. High Smith
came in fourth in the conference in sacks, and he
(01:39):
has just been a fantastic performer in this one. The
Steelers defense has performed well. And he's running around and
he's hitting that dime by Captain Camp whoa, and there's
no roughing. With one second left, they say that's it.
The game is over on another sack, back to back
(02:00):
sacks by the Steelers defense that played superbly. That's the
end of the game. With the final score Pittsburgh fourteen. Max.
That was a menagerie of Sackarola's buddy, you know what
I mean? That was a grounding pound. It was like
a season's worth of highlights. One moment, it just it
(02:22):
just it was like it was like another one and
another one. DJ Kalin would be proud, because you know
his wolf likes to do. He comes storming into the
studio with like forty seconds left till we come back
and he goes, hey, can you play all seven of
the sacks here? Of course, of course, no problem. Thanks
for the plenty of time here, I'll get it that.
(02:44):
No, no no, no, you got him right there on the
wall there there there in these cassette things. You just
play him right. What are those fan Daego circle things
with the lines? Is that at five? Yeah? Just pick
one out, just throw it on there. No, you got
those Alex Highsmith sacks on vinyl? Yeah, exact exactly. Oh
you don't listen to them on your on your on
(03:06):
your CD walk man like I do, Anti skip optional.
You guys are killing me man. Yeah, okay, there we go.
But I but I have happy to know that Wolf
does have a walk band that does have the auto reverse.
That's nice. It's a nice advancement there, that's exactly. You
(03:31):
don't have to open it up and flip it over,
you know what I'm saying. Yet it just boom, it
does it for you. We're going to the phone lines.
I gotta set the beat down here. We got Nathaniel
in Los Angeles. Nathaniel, you're in the locker room. Take
your shots, buddy. Hello, Nathaniel are you there? Yeah? You're
(03:57):
breaking up buddy, you Yeah, you better call back and Daniel, Yeah,
it's just breaking back. We'll get you right on. Absolutely.
All right, let's go to Everett in Fort Wayne. Everett,
you're in the locker room, my friend. Hey, guys, how
you doing today? Doing okay as well? You know, it's
(04:20):
kind of a uh melancholy day, but we we really
came alive there at the end, and it just seems
like it's a season of what could have been versus
what happened, no doubt about it. Yeah, well, you know,
there was a lot of growth. I have to admit it,
(04:42):
um that the offense came a long way in the
second half. I'm still still a little iffy on Canada though,
so I hate to be the naysayer, but I'm still
a little uh skittish on bringing him back. What do
you guys think? Go ahead, Max, you want to go Yeah, Well,
(05:02):
I mean, you know, like you said, I mean, I mean,
coach Canada that Matt Canada did did ah did did
a nice job of adjusting uh late in the year,
and you know, he he definitely showed some growth. But
do I think it's enough for him to keep his job?
(05:23):
That that's tough for me to say. Um, well, go ahead, Max,
I'm sorry I shouldn't. Well, here's the point I was
gonna make. We don't know all the ins and outs
of what's going on behind the scenes, and you know,
there's there's you get commentary, but they don't have the
ability to what audible or they don't have the ability
to run this and that we don't know exactly what
(05:43):
is and isn't. I do know this that offense improved
a great deal from the bye week on. And when
you take in fact, uh, you've got no Ben and
you now have a rookie, so you're you got a
rookie going in there. There's a lot of things that
behind the scenes, we don't know exactly how that all
(06:03):
played out. But I do know this, they showed constant
improvement from the buy out. In my mind, I think
he's done a good job in in doing what he
needed to do to get this offense untracked enough. Now,
I don't know the decision making process. I don't know
all all things involved in that, but I do know
I think Matt Canada did a good job from the
(06:25):
buy out. Yeah, but was it good enough to keep
said job? That That's where that's my that's that's my
only thing where I say, I don't know all of
the parameters. But you know what I'm saying, like like
you kind of said. But at the same time, that's
gonna be one of the big questions that has to
(06:46):
be answered. Um you know, was it was it enough
to say, you know what, we can go in this direction,
but I don't know. I can't. I can't confidently say
it either way. Um, if that makes anybody feel or
worst effort about that. But you know, because like you said,
the first half was just theirs was the first half.
(07:06):
It was bad, it was anemic, it was it was
not moving. But then you see towards YEA and even
and even you know, there was some sputtering, uh you
know in in this game. Um, in kind of that
beginning part of the game. It was a little slow
to get started. But we also know that we had
fast starts the last couple of weeks. So it's it's
one of those it's a balancing act. And also who's
(07:28):
available who who who can actually go out and gets
the other thing? You know, we need we need another
descendant of Andy Reid or Mike Shanahan. I think, well,
the only the only thing the Chiefs have run that
I you know, one of the big things it was
a spinning huddle. Did you see that huddle? That was
(07:48):
creativity is finest. I loved it. That was that was amazing.
But I'm sitting there going who comes up with that?
You know? I mean, I don't know. I'll just I'll
just close it out. What's saying. I appreciate the work
you guys do. It's it's very insightful to listen to
your show and uh, we'll just see what brings. Absolutely
(08:11):
absolutely don't have a great offseason, thank you. Ever, I
appreciate no doubt. All right, you know what we gotta Oh,
we gotta goldie. He's a little bit of an oldie,
but a goldie here in the locker room. Let's go
to Jason from New Hampshire. Jason, how are you, my friend?
And thank you for the the the the syrup made
(08:33):
its way here, my friend. Absolutely absolutely, did you guys
get Max is? Because who knows if Max was actually
gonna get that sirrup, whether or not you took it all?
You know, I believe there was only one. Yeah, did
I just give that away? Yeah? Yeah, exactly. That's it's
(09:01):
called the wolf. It's the wolf ps that owes you money.
Did I forget to send that onto you. Max. Yeah,
I don't. I don't know. It's funny you saw me
every week. Oh you know what, I'm taking chicken and
(09:23):
waffles one time too many. Yeah, I might have broke
into your bottle my front. Yeah, all good sharing is carring.
But thank you Jameson. That should have thought of it. Yeah,
you got to get that extra weight Downding on me.
(09:44):
Yeah you're breaking up bad now, Jason. Oh yeah, Unfortunately
it's a it's a little crackle, a little crack. Yeah, okay,
I try to not move around. We got gremlins in
the system. Oh we got the grumlins are back. Are
Oh that's wrong? I hate that are bad and ugly.
(10:07):
Then yeah, I'll try to try to go quick on it.
Then good. I think the feeling that we were all
left with because I mean, winning the last last four
in a row, I mean left us with a great feeling.
Um bad you guys already so gun. The officiating with
horrible on both sides of it, unfortunately, um and the
(10:30):
ugly was getting out of red Lot, trying to get
back here at work on time. I got three hours
to sleep on the road, you know, Oh brother, Yeah,
all right, anyway. I don't mean to sound last todays
ago and not a lot of energy, but that's where
(10:50):
I'm left with. So I hope you guys have it
on some day. Thank you very much, Jason. We appreciate
your brother so much. Absolutely, all right, thank you. We'll
move it on here. Let's see. Hopefully the Gremlins aren't
going all the way to North Carolina because that's where
Cuban Dan is. Cuban you're in the locker room with
and the Ninjas again, I can go ahead and hang
(11:12):
up if North Carolina is gonna bother you, No, not
at all. You're sounding good. You're sounding good, man, you know,
I was just telling less Like I understand there's a
certain level of disappointment that goes around with flack of
and his lack of performance and the whole thing about
us not getting into the playoffs. But man, I just
(11:33):
I can't help but be happy and excited. I'm like,
I look at the next two to five years, and
the foundations are in place for a team that's going
to be really dynamic to can compete with anybody in
the NFL. Like I like, we don't know, we don't
know who's gonna be back. Who's not gonna be back?
(11:53):
What changes are gonna be made? But for the for
the horsemen that are that are there for the for
the long haul. I think we're in a really good place.
And I just I keep looking to the future and
I find it. Oh, I don't want to say it,
but I find a lot of comfort in it. Go ahead, Max,
take a shot at it, buddy. Yeah, No, I mean
I I agree, like you said, the growth and the
(12:15):
youth that grew was tremendous. Especially look no further than
the offensive side of the ball. Uh you know, I
know we talked about Kidney Pickett and he is the
Steelers Joe Green great performance at work because it's not
called the Rookie of the Year anymore, uh, winner, But
you think about the contributions that George Pickens had, the
(12:38):
relationship they made second year guys, Pat Friar, move, Naji
Harris Dan right, yeah, any word on him. It wasn't
an a c L was it. We don't know yet.
Stay tuned because we're going to carry Mike Tomlin press
conference after this show, Okay, alright, yeah, yeah, So so
(13:00):
we don't know, and that that was you know something
that was frustrating yesterday. I was sad to see, um,
you know, such a great season by Pat But I
mean when you think of just that kind of just
a group of guys that that that makes that makes
it very awesome. And we still didn't get to see
a Calvin Austin. So imagine when he gets healthy he
reinserts himself back into it um and then defensively, like
(13:23):
right Mark Robinson came in, gave some quality reps um
at the end of the year between last a lot
of it this week. Yeah, there's a there's a lot
of exciting things to look forward to uh next season,
and I'm excited to see what pieces move around during
the off season and how how we better the roster
(13:44):
beyond what we are at now. But like I said,
I am I I just can't. I can't bring myself
to look at the negative because I only see positive
on all of this. And as as much as as
much as Timon always says that the non losing record
doesn't mean anything to him, I'm happy that all the
players didn't have a losing record on their watch because
(14:08):
I from what I've heard, and it goes two ways
depending on what pundit you're talking to, But it seemed
to mean a lot to them that they kept that intact. Absolutely, absolutely,
That's still something that you want because you care a
great deal about the man that's leading you, and it's
just something to rally around. Look, you understand the standard
(14:30):
is the super Bowl. You understand you want to get
to the playoffs. You understand all these things. But the
fact of the matter is it's sometimes you come up short,
and there's a series of times that they have not done.
You know that what at six we have not what
six seasons in a row without a playoff? Went okay,
I get that. But at the same time, all you
gotta do is look at Cleveland and Cleveland goes back
(14:52):
to Cleveland, uh, sixteen and one in season finales and
you know, against the Steelers, and you wonder, what's the
difference between them, you know, being one in seventeen or
one in sixteen, and Steve has been sixteen and one,
and it's the guy at the top. Yeah, I would
say ownership that trickles down to coaching, the trickle down
to the players, because it all starts at the top,
(15:15):
it really does, and that consistency is everything. So um man,
That's that's all I had. I just wanted to I
just wanted to share my happiness and my excitement with
you guys today. I think it's great, be happy, be
excited about it because the future looks good. It does.
All right, you guys have a great day. Right all right,
thank you so much. Dan. What do you say we
(15:35):
get take another one? Here? We got just enough time,
all right, we got just enough time. Yeah, let's do it.
All right, Let's go to Nathaniel and go No, we're
going one and Charleston wine. You're up in the locker room, buddy. Hey,
good morning, guys. I got doing We're doing a little
(15:58):
flair that throw, a little flair, little pinch Yeah, nope, no, probably.
I just want to say I want to appreciate, appreciate
you guys, Appreciate the Ninjas and everything you gots dined
for the season. Without you, guys, I don't know what
stealing Nation would be at. Well. Yeah, you can sit
here and go well a long way, a little a
(16:19):
little better math. Uh, guys who fit in the room closet. Uh,
you should have seen the two of us sitting in
for Missy yesterday exactly. Oh, yes, that that didn't look
good on the scoreboard. Did it didn't look good in
the jumbo truck? No? I mean well, I mean, I
mean my hair did look good. I'm okay before it,
(16:42):
but it's all good. You have bad head, it's okay,
go ahead one or just before. Max makes me feel
completely you know, like uh like, oh, I'm just horrible.
I am yesterday, Um, yesterday. So I think the rears
(17:05):
were hard, but you think the last two weeks they're
trying to get at the captain cam because the last
two weeks THO was called against something. I don't know
what they're seeing. Man, you're trying to kill the captain man. Yeah,
that was a tough one. Um. And you know, obviously
Wolf is still still got a little bit of hot
blood for that. Yeah, smolder, smoldering, that's right, steaming about it.
(17:30):
But you know it is something where you hear t
you know, you hear about rafts and who the previous
team I have submitted something where they were calling into
questions so that they were scrutinizing Cam a little bit
more than everybody else. But I also I feel like
that was a makeup called Wolf, and I was Yeah,
I think it was a makeup call because they missed
(17:52):
that Larry Ogan Joeb face mask sack so bad that
they had to find one. And if it even came
close to questionable where they could pull out a rule
and justify it, I think we're gonna do it in
those moments. So I think that was just a victim
of circumstance for Cam versus them coming after him, even
though they do tend to do that. Because I had
(18:14):
a teammate or two back in the day that also
had that problem, James Harrison and Ryan Clark, both both
of them, both of them loved, loved when they saw
FedEx packages in their in their and their lockers on Mondays.
It was I mean, it was worse than it's It's
worse than getting a random you know, the random P test.
They yeah, like that that that's about as bad as
(18:37):
it gets, you know what I'm saying. So but but yeah,
now I think I think it's more circumstantial than than
them coming directly after Cam because I think Cam plays
a very physical brand of football, but he also plays
a very clean brand. Yeah, I'm thinking I'm thought the same.
It's seeing that old because you know, he's the order
of guy on the line. I'm thinking of seeing why
the old man moving that fast, So we gotta get
(18:58):
something knowing him absolutely, because we gotta we gotta take
a break. But today we're gonna be on until the
end of the week. I think Max you staying, You're
staying all week? Right? Yes, I am? Are you? Okay?
Well if you are, then eye Wall okay, okay there
I mean West will be in the control room finding
(19:20):
Grillmins by himself. Uh, but we'll step aside. We'll continue
to take your calls and also talk more about this game,
the end of the season, what we saw where where
things went good, bad and ugly Here in the locker
room Radio. This is in the locker Room with Wolf
(19:54):
and Starks on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio presented
your neighborhood Forward Store. The F one is the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was gonna say, I'm
appreciative of every guy in this locker room, every coach,
every staff member. Um, you know, through the bumps, through
(20:16):
through the rocky road, everybody just stuck together and just
kept trying to get better. Um. You know, that's something
we can build on the future. But the team doesn't
look the same every year, and guys move on, Guys retire,
guys get traded. Uh, you bringing new guys. Uh, It's
(20:37):
just a different formula every year. Um. But I'm just
so appreciative of every guy. Um, just trying to get
better every single day. Um. And Uh, I can't say
thank you enough the Steelers Nation for going on this
journey this year. Uh and watching a lot of guys grow.
(20:57):
How about that. I love that Max. You know, he
just spoke the words so very well and the deep
appreciation that he has for the organization, for the fan
base that supports the organization, for his teammates. Uh. There's
there's not too many guys like Captain Cam left in
the NFL like that. Yeah, No, I mean he is.
(21:20):
He's a throwback style type of player. Um. He's a
guy who embraced the traditions, the standards, the history, and
he continues to embody all of those things that that
were set before before he even came on this earth.
(21:40):
You know, he's embodied that he and he took the
stories of his elders. You know, he listened to the
Joe Green's right, the mel blunts, the guys who came
around and took those stories to heart and wanted to
create that same atmosphere to where people didn't even question
because they knew that that's just Steelers for a ball
(22:00):
and Um, so it's great to hear him. Great that
he is a leader of this spot. Now you know,
it's tough. Every season is his own journey and uh,
which leads to decisions reflections thoughts. Um, you know every year, Uh,
you know we're gonna go through this. Everybody has decisions
(22:23):
to make, just like the organization has decisions to make.
So it's gonna be very interesting you know what happens
moving forward, Um, with a lot of guys. But you know,
for the moment right now, you're just appreciative of the
journey that that has just been walked because it was
one that looked rocky, it looks scary, it looked troublesome,
(22:46):
and they smoothed it out, they spoke it up, came
out on the other si other side of it in
a very strong way. You leave with a positive taste
in your mouth going into the off season, not a
negative one, not a woe is me? The sky is
all in right, Um, this is this is something to
build upon with with your young nucleus and your veteran leadership.
(23:10):
You've got to have a balance of both, um in
order to succeed in this league. Absolutely. All right, let's
go back to the phones. We got Nathaniel out in
l A. Nathaniel, you're in the locker room, brother, How
you doing. Good morning, Good morning morning. Oh I was
just I don't know how I don't uh yeah, it
(23:34):
could be yeah, come on ahead, Yeah, anyway, I just
you know, summarized in the season. You know, I thought
we had a we had a good season, you know,
because you know, some disappointment of course, but that's always
you know, going to be that when you don't achieve
the goal. But I think we have so much to
look forward to, you know, I'm just happy with the development.
(23:59):
I can't say enough about you know, coach Domlin. He
I think he's just one of the best of all time,
you know, I mean we had so many opportunities, you know,
like you say to to Tank, you know, after the
buyer or whatever, before the buy you know, you know,
you hear so many people, you know, well why you know,
(24:20):
why make the playoffs? Why I go to the playoffs?
Just to get you know, healed up in in Buffalo,
but I'm not sure that would have been the case.
You know, we were better than the team that went
up there the first time. You know that, you know,
so I mean you know, you you you you throw
caution to the wind, and you know you see where things,
(24:41):
you know turn out. You know that last Multimore game
that you know, we had so many opportunities. I mean,
you can look at so many different we just needed that,
we just needed one. We came so close, you know,
and you know we had to rely on people or
other things, and you know those are things that will
be on your control. But but I think that over
(25:03):
you know, we we had a We had a very
good I'm happy with you know, the way things are
looking in the way they're going to be looking in
the future. I think things are looking up, don't you Max, Yeah,
I completely agree. I think when you look at the
direction that we're going now, you you can't you can't
be upset. You you have to be empowered enlightened by it.
(25:26):
Because I think this team showed us a lot of
what they're made of. And I thought that was one
of the things that I look at and I say
you know what, I don't feel. I don't feel bad
out now. Was I nervous coming out training camp? Absolutely,
I'm not gonna lie to You're not gonna sit here
and try and even pretend that I knew this was
gonna happen. But when it did happen, it was just
(25:48):
tremendous to watch because you saw a team grow in
front of our eyes. You saw a team become a
team instead of a bunch of guys just trying to
make it. You know, I thought that was something that
I was really ecstatic about. And the way that they
came together. The hallmarks and the principles of things we
saw stingy, rushed defense, running and having a bruising ground
(26:12):
attack like those are hallmarks and tenants of Steelers football.
And you know they worked to establish that and they created,
um the standard. They became the standard bearers because you know,
Wolf can't get out there, I can't get out there.
Are our our our teammates that we played with, well,
thank god, I could say all of my teammates now
(26:33):
has been finally retired. Um, you know are not there,
and so so you trust the next group, the next
movement of guys to go and carry out what you
remember about Steelers football, and they and they did it.
They did it. They did in their own special way.
But they ended up getting there and and it was
(26:54):
refreshing and and very glad to see that they bought in,
because that's all is a question. You wonder will there
won't they? And these guys did and will absolutely and
agree totally agree as other than you know, I'm just
you know, the referee, the the officiating was bad. You know,
(27:17):
the call on I mean, you know, I mean Rocan
Smith slammed. Can he ticket to the ground, give me
a concussion? No call you know on that? And then
you know Cam I mean, come on anyway, Yeah, yeah
it is. We still want you guys. Have we still one?
(27:38):
We still one and in in in high fashion at that.
Thank you very much. Yes, you're right about that and
annual thank you for calling brother. Okay, you have a
great day, both of you. All right, my friends, all right,
let's roll on. We got ire in Chicago. How you doing,
but hey, what's going on to see Chicago? How we
(28:03):
are doing fine? How are you doing good? Pretty good?
Pretty good? Max? Just still for you so bad getting
up so early in the morning and doing all that stuff,
but we love you for that, for a wonderful guy.
It's amazing. How a compliment it just feels so so
not complimentary, sarcastic. It's so full of sarcasm and dripping
(28:28):
with sarcasts But that's okay what it sounds like. You know,
on this side, I got love for you, absolutely, absolutely,
And then let's get down the backs attacks say this
is a message out distill the nation worldwide. Hey guys,
we know that many of us are hurting at the moment,
and we get it, but we need to stop complaining
(28:50):
about it. Man up. We gotta remember from nineteen thirty
three to nineteen seventy two, which is thirty nine years,
the thing was a laughing stock of the NFL because
we are never want to playoff game. To the nineteen
seventy four, which is nine is insteads have been the
envy of the NFL, being the first team in NFL
history to win back to back footballs twice, to win
(29:12):
four Footerbowls and sixties, to win six Super Bowls in
NFL history, to win the Super Bowl at the sixth seed,
to win with only three head coaches. So in the meantime,
in between times. We need to be thankful for still
the nation and what it is comments. I like it
that you put that together nicely. That's a nice package there,
(29:32):
my friend Max. Ye, No, okay, I know if you're
an answer on top of that, top of that, Okay, yeah, No,
I mean I think I think you're right, c R.
I mean, this is this is not an easy process,
and I think a lot of people kind of lose
sight of that. Right, Um, you've had eighteen years of
one quarterback leading this organization. Was going to be in
(29:54):
the Hall of Time about that, and and you and
you and you have to go through trans aition like
we see it all the time with other teams, right,
how many times have we seen it with Miami Cleveland?
You know, Houston's going through it right now where they're
they're just lost, uh, you know, and even the Jets.
The Jets, look how many quarterbacks they went through this
season and we only had to go through to one
(30:16):
of them being the rookie, and that rookie ended up
panning out and being consistent. We didn't have to bench him,
We didn't have to tell him how to how to
conduct an interview. Right, he wasn't doing what he wasn't
supposed to do in the off season. Like, that's one
of the things. We're very blessed and fortunate, and I
think sometimes we lose sight of of how good that is. Now,
(30:38):
Is it a super Bowl every year? Yes, I know
what your standard is, Right when you have six lombardis
sitting in a case that everybody can see in the
stadium every time they go in, it gets a bit
daunting to say that this is the standard. But at
the end of the day, coming coming out there and
winning games sixteen years, not a losing record. I mean,
you know that's just unheard of, right that that's that's
(31:00):
not supposed to happen. UM, and franchises, it happens rarely. Um.
But once again, we're in a position that we could
be the Green Bay Packers. Right with Aaron Rodgers, you know,
we could go to these games and still not make
it to the Super Bowl. He could win m vps.
Then you have turmoil. He doesn't like his receivers, he
didn't show up the practices, and the next thing you know,
(31:22):
you're below five. All these things can happen. But but, but, but,
but we don't have those things happening so I think
that's where Steeler fans have to take that, you know,
opportunity and say, you know what, I know, I'm complaining.
I know I have a high expectation of this team,
but this team still delivers at the end of the day.
Well said Max said, Hey, I gotta go. But a
(31:44):
quick shout out to Cublan. Dan also shout out the one,
hey one, you need to get me a call, but
they ain't heard, all right that. Yeah, we went did
that game in Atlanta, and you know we need to
talk about that. So in the main time and it's
way time. Here we go. Here we go. Very good,
(32:04):
Thank you man, appreciate it. Max. We gotta go to break.
We got love you, bro. You got Herman Sacramento and
Richard in Washington will be back after the break. We'll
take you guys and then we'll wrap it up. All
right there, did you you heard the man? This is
(32:34):
in the locker room with Wolf and Starks on ESPN
Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
All right, let's move on here. We got Richard and Washington. Richard,
you're in the locker room. Take it away. Good morning,
(32:54):
good morning, real quick, wolf Um, I'm gonna get my
good bad luckily real quick. The good ones that we
had a any season that was we didn't make the playoffs,
and the ugly ones we lost those few games in
the beginning of a season that we should have won.
And the officiating on these roughing the past to cause
wonder if the competition committee is gonna get together for
flactor on the quarterbacks. But real quick, I want to
(33:15):
give a shout out to west Bula. I remember the
power bid on the guy that got you to sign
my terrible Tale. We'll owe you that Barbie to ribbed in.
Let me get it to you if for Nord. Will
you guys have a good season and I cannot wait
to hear you guys again. God bless and God speed
to you all. Thank you so much. Wow, that was great.
Nice job Richard Man coming strong in the locker room.
(33:39):
Cut of size. Johnny even got a shout out. Johnny
got a shot. Johnny always gets a shot out Johnny
and Johnny is the man. Well, let's keep it rolling.
We got Herman Sacramento going back out to California. You're
in the locker room. Brother. Hey, thanks, guys. That's a
tough act to following. Man, can't offer you any rasons
or anything, but we gotta Max and we gotta scam going.
(34:03):
You see what we're getting. We're getting treats from the
from the fans exactly except for I don't get to
see the treats. So sorry about that, you guys. I
just I just want to, you know, say thanks for
(34:25):
a great season you guys offered us. Man. You know,
it's a great forum to come to and to talk
to you guys and stuff, and just to learn more
about Steelers football. Um. The second thing I want to
I want to say grat coach Mike. I mean, he
had a unbelievable run with the Steelers so far. Man.
I mean he's just he's he's just unbelievable coach Man.
(34:45):
You know, we uh, we need to really appreciate him.
And the third thing is those roughing of pastors and
and you know Cam got ripped like the last two
weeks man about like coming off the pile, you know,
getting a per so file. And then also you know
what the roughing pastor yesterday. It may no you didn't
like slam the quarterback down. I just don't know where
(35:06):
that came from from. Um. And then lastly, you know,
are actually one, I have two more little fun but
I'm really, you know, exstatic about their future. Man. We
just uh, we got a lot of good young players
that are just gonna only get better and and we
have great you know, I believe we have great coaching
on both sides of the ball. So UM, I just yeah,
(35:28):
I really, um, I'm looking forward to next year. And then, UM,
you know, the other thing is is um Canada. You know,
I I know everybody wants them gone, but you know,
we we made some good strides in the last like
seven eight nine weeks, and you know, I just uh,
you know, I think we need to look really hard
at that one. Um. But you know that's my personal opinion.
(35:52):
But yeah, I just appreciate you guys, and thanks for
the calling man. Thank you so very much. No, thank you,
We have appreciate it. Of course, we love doing it
as well. That's the other thing we have enjoyed it.
Stealer Nation, you guys give us so much. We're just
happy that we can somewhat give a little bit of
that back. To you. We we appreciate it, um, you
(36:15):
know greatly, no questions about it. Steelers Nation is the best. Look.
I've been doing this a while, and uh, I've never
been disappointed by them, whether their turnout, there, their vocalizations
at the stadium. They're rabid defense of the all things
black and gold. Hey, listen, it's just great stuff. And
I have such enjoyment and meeting so many great Steelers
(36:38):
fans over the years. It's been my privilege, believe you me,
because uh, you know, God just allowed a guy, just
a guy like me to go and do what what
I've been able to do in playball, and it's just
been such a pleasure. Um. And then then to have
fellow brothers like Max, it's been great to be able
to hang out with you all what the last couple
of years here and do what we do. And I
(37:01):
still don't know how you you do that trip each
and every week. Man, It's amazing to me. You're still
standing the sacrifices that we make right for for the
the opportunity to be with those that we enjoy being around.
So it is not a heavy lift, um, even though
I may act like it at times. Um. But but
(37:24):
I enjoy it, Wolf, it is it is truly a
lot of fun to do it, and to of course
to bring the Steelers nation. You know, our love, our
passion for this game and and and our team. So
you know, it's it's just par for the course, you know, absolutely, Max,
I gotta know what do those frequent flyer miles look
like that? I mean, like Europe, you probably gotten frequent
(37:47):
flyer miles built up now, I mean you might be
able to buy the naming rights after Acqua one day
exactly because you see that Start Start Start stadium, brought
to you by brought to you by flight miles. So no,
it will be Europe this year, guys, I'm taking the
(38:10):
family to Europe. I've decided on it that I'm using
my my points for good Brannie points from my form
my family. Who thinks I'm estranged? All right, we got
we got two minutes. Where are you gonna go? Paris? Parish? Dog, Yeah,
(38:31):
take take taking their taking the girls to Paris. Yeah,
my oldest Waverley, she's she's wanted to go, she's obsessed
with So we're we're gonna do Paris for spring break
for the girls. Like Max, you'll I told this to
Wolf before the show. But you'll you'll get a kick
out of this. I was talking to our buddy Alvaro Martine.
Of course we will join us tomorrow at eleven o'clock
(38:52):
here in the locker room. And uh, Alvarro like myself
and like yourself as well, to Max, you know, look girl,
dad right, Uh Varrow has a couple of girls. You
have a couple of girls. I've got a fifteen month
old and another one on the way and may both
gonna be girls. One girl. The next one coming a
girl as well too. And we were having this vacation
conversation and Alvarro said to me, you have to bring
(39:12):
this up tomorrow. He said, you got a wife, You're
gonna have two daughters. He said, you gotta take them
to France at some point on a vacation. He said,
it's the best place to take the women in your life. Really.
Ye oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I've taken my wife before.
My wife and I have gone together, and actually Quincy
technically went with us. She was she was in tim Stemmach.
(39:33):
She but but she was not on this earth yet separated.
So so yeah, so we've been once and and it
was it was spectacular. So we figured the girls are
ready now to go, so we're gonna take them fun.
I mean, you're gonna go from youren go from the
combine in Indianapolis and the dead of winter with myself
(39:54):
and Dale Lolly and Matt. William said, I mean you're
gonna leave all that behind about to France with the family.
I mean, that's gonna be a tough turner. Yeah, it is,
you know, you know, I mean, just think about this.
I'll just have baguettes and croissants, said, onion soup because
they don't call it. They don't call it French onion soup,
and France they just call it onion soup. Uh so,
(40:14):
and and and I'll have freats since they don't call
them French fries. And and I'll have all the history
and art and everything historical to lead me to my
own version of da Vinci code by the end of it. Um.
But yeah, now, well before we go, before we go, Max,
real quick, before you wrap this up, all right, make
sure when you get over there, you make sure to
(40:36):
tell the French, now go away, all right, don't you
a thicken time? Great? Oh that I will scream that
from the top top of the Arc de Trillon. Uh
for sure. All right, hey, that has been a show today.
(40:58):
Once again, we're here throughout the rest of a week
in the locker room. Like we said, if you're missing
any of the show, feel free to go like subscribe
and download at your favorite podcast locations. And if you
don't have a favorite, go ahead, stop on by the
Steeler's mobile app of the iHeart Radio app and you
can get it there. He's Wolf, I'm Max, and we
had Johnny there behind the board telling me everything I
(41:21):
need to know about being a French tourist and being
totally American. Uh. You've hit in the locker room today.
Enjoy your day and we'll see you tomorrow.
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