Tim Benz: Art Rooney’s constant defense of Steelers culture actually proves its flaws

Boy, Art Rooney II sure is willing to die on this hill, isn't he?

Last week, the Steelers owner said he disagreed with the popular fan and media assessment that his Steelers are "a circus" and don't have a "culture problem."

Like many Steelers fans and Pittsburgh media members, I vehemently disagreed.

Instead of reading the room and gauging the temperature of his fan base, Rooney ramped up his defense of the black-and-gold clown car that has become his locker room.

On Friday, Rooney followed up his comments on the talk radio circuit, appearing on both WDVE and KDKA-FM. Here are some excerpts of what he said to defend his position that the constant distracting headlines surrounding the Steelers haven't negatively impacted the team's results.

• "I certainly don't think we have a culture problem," Rooney told 93.7 FM. "We won 13 games (in 2017), so if you have a culture problem, if you have a discipline problem on your team, those kinds of teams don't win 13 games in the National Football League. Those are the facts we have to deal with."

• "The bottom line is when you point to last year, and everybody talks about the drama, that was a team that won 13 games. The first test for me is the performance on the field. Are we winning games? Do we have a winning culture? I think the record speaks for itself."

• "Our fans judge us primarily on wins and losses. This team has won pretty consistently under (Mike Tomlin's) tenure here."

Basically, it's Rooney's stance that because the Steelers win more than they lose, there's no proof that off-field chaos impacts on-field results.

Let's examine that. Because I'd suggest that for a team that doesn't often lose, as Rooney points out, quite a few of their losses are tainted by those off-field fiascos.

A lot of people affix the "start" of "Team Turmoil" to Antonio Brown's Facebook Live streaming of Tomlin's postgame speech in the 2016-17 playoffs following the organization's victory in Kansas City.

We'll start there.

• A week after Brown streamed Tomlin using some colorful language about the Patriots, the Steelers went up to New England and lost in the AFC Championship Game.

• In the weeks that followed the national anthem fiasco, players admitted it negatively impacted the locker room and contributed to a loss in Chicago last year during Week 3. Even Ben Roethlisberger allowed that there was at least "a little" cause and effect.

• Tomlin's midseason "Sunday Night Football" interview predicted an AFC Championship Game rematch against the Pats in 2017. That never happened. It aired hours before the club almost got upset by a bad version of the Packers without Aaron Rodgers.

• Le'Veon Bell missing a walkthrough, showing up late and looking past Jacksonville on Twitter all occurred right before the playoff loss to the Jaguars. So did Mike Mitchell screaming at them down the hallway at Heinz Field.

• The Steelers lost their game against the Chiefs this year. It was a contest that featured a sideline temper tantrum from Brown.

• And some players intimated Brown's behavior before the Cincinnati game was part of the reason why the club almost lost to the awful Bengals in Week 17.

So, you tell me. Is there a connection between the Steelers off-field chaos and their on-field results or not? Sure looks like it.

To use Rooney's argument, this team is pretty good. It doesn't lose often. But a disproportionate amount of those losses seem to be associated with some of the very same off-field incidents Rooney is trying to downplay with this flawed argument.

I didn't even mention the club's 3-2 start in 2017 on the heels of Bell's preseason franchise-tag absence.

Although, I'm sure Rooney and his defenders would say this is all coincidence or circumstantial.

Sorry, Mr. Rooney. I can't buy that explanation. I know you have a law degree. But you need a better defense than that.