Tomlin wanted Vick in Pgh

[lloydroid]

[url]http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/pro-sports/steelers/118358-ed-tomlin-wanted-to-sign-vick-with-steelers[/url]

Seriously? Seriously? I now have to question Tomlin's ability to judge character. He wanted Vick in Pgh. WTF? Nice. Tomlin wanted a dog-torturing and murdering felon on the Steelers' roster. Thank God the Rooneys were dead set against it. I really have to question Tomlin's character now. I've always been a big MT fan; but starting with last year's worst job of coaching in play off history, this season so far, and now finding out he wanted Vick on this team....I am starting to 2nd guess how much I support him.

[SidSmythe]

I was more skeptical when he endorsed Barack Obama to tell you the truth!!

[Shoe]

At the risk of sounding racist, he's taking the team down a decidedly pro-black QB path--one which historically isn't very successful. Our saving grace happens to be that we already had a franchise (white) QB on the roster at the time. Batch, Leftwich, Dennis Dixon, Troy Smith, the big kid we had this year... No matter what you want to say, that isn't a coincidence.

[SidSmythe]

At the risk of sounding racist, he's taking the team down a decidedly pro-black QB path--one which historically isn't very successful. Our saving grace happens to be that we already had a franchise (white) QB on the roster at the time. Batch, Leftwich, Dennis Dixon, Troy Smith, the big kid we had this year... No matter what you want to say, that isn't a coincidence.

While I don't doubt the possibility of this....we were going down that road with Cowher often too.
Batch, Tee Martin (drafted ahead of Tom Brady), Kordell, etc.
Tomlin did bring in that kid from Washington St. who Jaworski said was the next Tom Brady (he was white).

Off Topic: Do you ever notice whenever people make player comparisions they're always the same race.

I'm sure Peyton Hillis was compared to Mike Alstott coming out of college.

[lloydroid]

I was more skeptical when he endorsed Barack Obama to tell you the truth!!

Not to turn this into a political rant, but, given our two choices then, and now, you have no decent choice either way. We are never given an option worth a gad damn sh-t when it comes down to it. I mean, McCain? Romney? Barry? All suck.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

At the risk of sounding racist, he's taking the team down a decidedly pro-black QB path--one which historically isn't very successful. Our saving grace happens to be that we already had a franchise (white) QB on the roster at the time. Batch, Leftwich, Dennis Dixon, Troy Smith, the big kid we had this year... No matter what you want to say, that isn't a coincidence.

Tomlin has been the coach since the 2008 season.

Charlie Batch joined the team in 2002

Byron Leftwich joined the team in Tomlin's first year of 2008, however, I highly doubt that the rookie coach had much say in personnel that first year.

That being said, while Lefty's skin color is black, he is not someone who you would refer to as a "black QB". His style is lily white.

[squidkid]

how come that doesnt surprise me?

[Slapstick]

While Tomlin considered the signing of Vick, it was ultimately Tomlin who decided against it...

A week before the Steelers opened training camp in 2009, a lawsuit filed against Roethlisberger in Lake Tahoe, Nev., alleging he raped a woman surfaced. Tomlin came to the believe that signing Vick at such a fragile time for his two-time Super Bowl quarterback was a bad idea.
“Given some of the things that my quarterback was going through, I didn't think it was the appropriate time to add another quarterback to the mix," Tomlin told NBC-TV’s Bob Costas that year. "He's going through somewhat of a trying time with the civil allegation, a case against him. I didn't want to do anything that was less than supportive to Ben."

If Vick had been on the roster, would Ben even be a Steeler given what happened in 2010 in Milledgeville?

Go ahead and question Tomlin's judgment at that time, but don't forget to question Ben Roethlisberger's judgment at that time as well, which was infinitely worse...

[lloydroid]

At the risk of sounding racist, he's taking the team down a decidedly pro-black QB path--one which historically isn't very successful. Our saving grace happens to be that we already had a franchise (white) QB on the roster at the time. Batch, Leftwich, Dennis Dixon, Troy Smith, the big kid we had this year... No matter what you want to say, that isn't a coincidence.

Yea, some will accuse you of sounding racist, but I think it deserves discussion. To a degree it is nature (not just human nature) for races (i.e. breeds) to want to surround themselves with like creatures. It really is natural, so I don't want to completely point the dirty end of the stick at that mindset. Tell me, if you're in a frat and you have an Italian lineage, that when an Italian kid pledges that you don't kind of extra support him, all things being equal? I don't hate on MT for some of that. However, that being said, overly pushing for black players, at the expense of putting the best 53 players on the roster, is unforgivable. And pushing to get Vick on this team is very questionable. He might have wanted to "help a brother out" but it was an obviously jacked move, all things considered. I don't think it is right to flatly reject a QB because he's black, but at the same time, an "all-black" push for QB is just as wrong. The GM for Jacksonville, who happened to be black, seemed to make sure that all QBs on the team were black. It was no coincidence, no way. And, partly due to that jacked mindset, the team sucked in those years. Put the best 53 players on the team, regardless of race. Operating any other way is idiotic and racist. It will be interesting to see who ends up replacing Heath Miller, Keisel and Ben, won't it?

[squidkid]

While Tomlin considered the signing of Vick, it was ultimately Tomlin who decided against it...



If Vick had been on the roster, would Ben even be a Steeler given what happened in 2010 in Milledgeville?

Go ahead and question Tomlin's judgment at that time, but don't forget to question Ben Roethlisberger's judgment at that time as well, which was infinitely worse...

just like it was tomlin who ultimately fired arians......yea, right!