U mad, bro?: Angry Steelers fans filling up more than just Art Rooney II's inbox

During a press gathering on Monday, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II responded to a question about hearing from angry fans by saying, “My inbox has been pretty full.”

Mine too, Art. Mine too.

Let’s compare notes in this week’s “U mad, bro?”

This reader, @Fansville412, shared some thoughts about Rooney.

”Five straight losses to end the year, including another playoff loss, and no changes! Apparently that’s fine with the owner who is unaware of really anything that’s happening with this team.”

Oh, he’s aware. Trust me. He’s totally aware. But he’s doing nothing about it.

That’s the real problem.

“@Mjro1105” is piling on Rooney.

”Art is close to signing a multi-year deal with STEELY McBeam!”

You know what they say: “Above the mean with Steely McBeam!”

On that topic of Jim Rooney’s “above the mean” comment, our old friend “Sloss Boss” chimes in.

“I wonder if Art is mad at his brother. What he said is bad PR.”

Based on Art’s reaction, it sure sounded like he was. And you know what? It is bad PR. It also just sounded like Jim was reading Art’s mission statement out loud. So if Art really is mad at Jim, that would strike me as just a tad disingenuous.

Someone calling themselves @ZiggyCrosby disagreed with my assessment that the disputed catch by Xavier Worthy in the Bills-Chiefs game last weekend should’ve been ruled an incompletion instead of a catch for K.C.

“The irony of Steelers fans/media saying ‘The ball hit the ground’ on a key play in the AFC Championship game is so so so lost on them.”

If you are referring to the Immaculate Reception, first of all, that wasn’t in the AFC Championship game. The Steelers beat the Raiders in the first round and then lost to the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship game.

Secondly, the dispute over the Immaculate Reception wasn’t about whether Franco Harris caught the ball. It was a debate over whether Jack Tatum contacted the pass or Frenchy Fuqua did. Under the rules of the day, if Fuqua had done that and it bounced off him to Harris, the play should’ve been ruled incomplete.

But aside from all that, your analogy is 100% spot on. Good job.

During this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden and I bemoaned how Rooney seems oblivious to, or disinterested in, criticism of head coach Mike Tomlin. It appears @Kschmoo52 has a retort for that.

“I would say it’s his job to be oblivious to said criticism.”

Maybe. But his job is also to react to Tomlin’s lack of playoff success. He’s not doing that either.

Also, during that podcast, Madden said, “From the owner to the ball boy, (the Steelers) are a fraud.” This emailer offers a different take.

“I think he got it wrong on the ball boys. The ball boy handling the kicking job did a very good job last year. Maybe he deserves a promotion.”

Agreed. The condition of the balls and the precision with which they were presented to Christian Kuntz and Corliss Waitman were probably the biggest reason for Chris Boswell’s success this year.

If not a promotion, at the very least, he deserves a trip with Boswell to the Pro Bowl. I certainly know he deserves it more than the one that Russell Wilson got.