Not only are current Pittsburgh Steelers fighting among themselves. So are their alumni.
First, it was Antonio Brown allegedly blowing up at Ben Roethlisberger during the last practice week of the season.
Now former running back DeAngelo Williams is sniping at another one-time Steeler, Ryan Clark.
As you may have seen, Clark was very critical of Antonio Brown. He's a featured NFL analyst on ESPN these days, and he painted Brown as a selfish diva.
"When it comes to just being a good teammate, when it comes to just being supportive, understanding that you're trying to achieve one goal, that doesn't matter to him," Clark said. "What matters to him is 19 attempts, 14 catches, 185 yards, two touchdowns against the Saints. That's what's important to Antonio Brown.
"This is about the guy that goes Facebook Live as your coach is talking. This is about the guy that publicly talks about not getting the ball or issues with the offensive coordinator, knocks over garbage cans or knocks over Gatorade bottles and cans because he doesn't get the rock."
Clark also discussed nearly fighting with Brown in practice in 2012 because he was ordering the defense not to touch him after he signed his $42 million deal and was barking at defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. He said that his sentiment at the time was that paying Brown that much money was "creating a monster."
Based on this tweet, Williams seems to think Clark violated some sort of locker room code.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/DeAngeloRB/status/1080223708382400513 [/embed]
What bothers me most about this tweet is that close to 1,000 people "liked" it. That shows how many people fail to understand job descriptions in the media.
Williams is wrong about the conflict-of-interest thing. There is none. Clark's only interest is to do a good job as a commentator. It's not to serve as a spokesperson for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's no longer a player. Their success and his broadcasting career after football are not linked.
Williams is also wrong about inferring that Clark shouldn't share his personal experiences. In fact, that's exactly his job. So long as Clark isn't betraying the confidence of players on a personal level, I don't see a problem here.
Discussing what happened in practice while they were teammates and addressing Brown's me-first personality is valuable and insightful commentary. It's an opinion many of us in the local media have expressed. To hear Clark corroborate it on a first-hand level is newsworthy.
Also, I find it ironic that Williams is defending Brown and attacking Clark on the platform of locker room sanctity. Because, as Clark reminds us, didn't Brown himself violate that trust in a much more direct and damaging manner with his Facebook Live stream from inside the locker room after the Steelers beat the Chiefs in the playoffs?
Isn't that kind of the same thing?
For me to defend Ryan Clark — on anything — is harder to do than it was to root for Baker Mayfield and the Browns this past Sunday. Clark was often contentious and confrontational with the media during his time in Pittsburgh. Even referring to us as "turds" during one interview session.
But when you're right, you're right. And in this case, Clark is right. And Williams is dead wrong.
