Remember back in late December, when Hall of Famer and former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who now works as an analyst for FOX Sports, said that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is "a great cheerleader guy" but "not a great coach?"
Yeah, forget that because Bradshaw is moonwalking away from those remarks.
"I wish I hadn't had said 'cheerleader,'" Bradshaw said Wednesday during a Fox press conference for Super Bowl LI, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Rob Owen. "It was an instantaneous response. I referenced it to on the sideline the camera will catch him a lot of times and he's gyrating so cheerleading was the first thing that came to my mind. ...
"Motivator would have been a better word," Bradshaw continued. "Listen, I'm in the business of saying things, giving opinions. I'm not going to stop because Mike Tomlin -- and I played in Pittsburgh. I'm not going to back off. I did it to Ben Roethlisberger when he got the motorcycle crash. My job is not to hide from what I say, you know. Be a little bit better. ... Shouldn't have said the cheerleader part, but life moves on."
Yes it does. The Steelers, currently on an eight-game winning streak, are preparing to face the Chiefs in an AFC Divisional matchup, and according to the players, Tomlin has a lot to do with how well the team has played the last two months.
"(Tomlin is) the best ever," veteran linebacker Lawrence Timmons told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Chris Adamski several weeks ago. "I stand by him and endorse him, I feel like he's the premier NFL coach."
Left guard Ramon Foster added: "He can coach. Look, nobody's ever talked bad about Mr. Bradshaw. Nobody's ever mentioned him in a bad light. I don't know where that comes from. But we'll see. I would love to hear his comments now."
Ben Roethlisberger said he "laughed" when he heard Bradshaw's comments "because, well, it was what it was."
Meanwhile, Tomlin was asked about it too, and his response was priceless.
"I appreciate the support, but criticism and critique are very much a part of our business and it's an element of our business that, as a competitor, I embrace," he said on Dec. 27. "The term 'great' is something that I have a great deal of respect for. I certainly don't think that my resume to this point reads as great but very few coaches' resumes read that at this point.
"Guys like Bill (Belichick) in New England can probably say that, or (Greg Popovich) down in San Antonio, but I think the rest of us are just working stiffs, to be quite honest with you.
"Now that being said, terms like 'cheerleader guy,' to me, maybe fall outside the bounds of critique or criticism. They fall probably more into the area of disrespect and unprofessional. But what do I know? I grew up a Dallas fan, particularly a Hollywood Henderson fan."
For those not old enough to get the reference, Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson played for the Cowboys from 1975-1979, and famously joked Before Super Bowl XIII against the Steelers that Bradshaw "couldn't spell cat if you spotted him the 'C' and the 'A'."
Something to keep in mind: If the Steelers win the Super Bowl, there's a chance Bradshaw would be the person presenting the Lombardi Trophy to Tomlin. So if we get to that point, would Bradshaw be willing to concede that Tomlin is great?
"Why you're all so geared up to get 'great' out of me?" Bradshaw asked. "'Great' is so overstated. There's only one great coach in the NFL, and that's that coach up in New England. That's a great coach.
"If 'great' is the word that you're looking for and I present them the trophy, I promise it will be tongue‑in‑cheek, and you'll pick up on it: 'Mike Tomlin, congratulations. You're a great coach. You just won your second Super Bowl. What do you think? Are we buddies now?' I don't think so but, you know - maybe I would."
