Unsurprisingly, the Pittsburgh Steelers were far from happy after Freddie Kitchens wore a “Pittsburgh started it” t-shirt during the build-up of their rematch. It’s not a stretch to say that they used it as fuel to kickstart a second-half run to beat the Browns at Heinz Field, 13-20.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor got the reactions of several Steelers players, and they predictably were putting Kitchens on blast for his clothing choice.
Ramon Foster claimed that he would never see Mike Tomlin pull off something like that.
“I know that our coach never would have done anything like that,” left guard Ramon Foster said. “Why throw gas? When you do something like that, you throw your players in harm’s way. He’s not on the field. You throw your players in harm’s way when you do stuff like that with a vengeance. And I hate that for them.”
David DeCastro confirmed that his tee definitely motivated the team to get the W over the Browns.
“I thought it was pretty stupid,” Steelers offensive lineman David DeCastro said. “That’s a lot of bulletin board material. I don’t know why you do that as a coach. I just don’t get that. Of course it’s going to motivate us. What are you thinking? It’s just not smart.”
Kitchens continued to downplay his fashion sense, saying that his shirt choice “didn’t cause us to give up 40-yard passes. However, the final score doesn’t lie. They didn’t have answers to a fiery Steelers team and had a disappointing yet familiar collapse in the second half. Jarvis Landry was the only receiver who notched more than 50 receiving yards, and the Browns’ running game didn’t manage to get any touchdowns in spite of their productivity.
This defeat should make Kitchens become more careful about his clothing choices moving forward.
Follow Us
Subscribe