Kirk Herbstreit hasn't been a fan of the drama surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason.
ESPN's college football analyst and lead color commentator defended Ben Roethlisberger amidst recent criticism from former teammates Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell. He also re-tweeted Ryan Shazier and JuJu Smith-Schuster's Twitter posts defending Roethlisberger, who signed a two-year extension earlier this offseason.
This week, Herbstreit reacted to former Pittsburgh safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark's Twitter post detailing the leadership he and fellow former Steeler safety Troy Polamalu displayed during their time as teammates.
Winner. Speaks to the culture that permeated in your era of the @steelers. Hopefully now, with the addition by subtraction, they can get that selfless approach back. https://t.co/ndtMN2gcsK
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) May 15, 2019
While he knows how good they are individually as players, Herbstreit clearly believes the departures of Brown and Bell could be an addition by subtraction for the Steelers, who have won just three playoff games since Super Bowl XLV.
Last year, the constant distraction of Bell's holdout, along with Brown's behavior, contributed to Pittsburgh's disappointing season that included missing the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
In the months since Brown and Bell left, Pittsburgh has placed an added emphasis on the character of players it brings into the locker room. General manager Kevin Colbert, during a post draft interview on 93.7 The Fan, spoke about how the past year has impacted himself and the organization.
“I think we always try to emphasize that and when we have decisions we need to make, we always talk about, ‘If we have two players who are comparable, who loves football and who is going to be the best team guy' and we always side to that player,” Colbert said.
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