My Worthless 2 Cents After a Long But Action Filled Offseason

The title “My Worthless 2 Cents” that I came up with isn’t one I feel I can take full credit for, but is a story in itself, so here it is. I was in the 8th grade at the time, and found myself tagging along with my older sister (a senior in high school), as she was a part of the high school theatre group who would work as ushers for local community theatre productions. Working as an usher at a production of “Harvey”, the dad for one of my baseball friends came up to me at intermission and handed me two pennies and asked me to go back to the dressing area and find the lead actor in the play. I was to give him the pennies and tell him “this is from the guy with the big nostrils, giving you his two cents worth”. I thought this was funny so I agreed to do it, especially since I knew the two were friends. I go to the dressing room and deliver the message and the “gift”. The response I was given was even better. The actor told me to return the pennies and I was to “tell the guy with the big nostrils to take his worthless 2 cents and shove them right up his big nostrils”. So that’s it. This is my 2 cents after sitting on the latest Steelers game for a bit. This is quite the opposite of my Knee Jerk Reaction article, so I get to bring everything full circle. You might tell me to take my worthless two cents and shove them up my nostrils, and that’s okay, because we are friends and I don’t look at it as personal.

I am going to break things down into three categories: One, something I feel stronger about. Two, something I have softened on a bit. Three, something that didn’t really change.

SOMETHING I FEEL STRONGER ABOUT

The Steelers are not an organization that goes into rebuild mode and settles for a 3 or 4 win season. They expect to contend for the division and to be a playoff participant every year. This has become even more evident since Omar Kahn has taken over the GM role. Kahn has done everything in his power (and sometimes it seems like other worldly powers) to acquire the pieces needed to always give the Steelers a chance. Isn’t that what fans of all teams want every year? A chance. A chance with enough talent to catch lightning in a bottle at the right time and have a legit chance to bring that 7th Lombardi trophy back where it belongs in Pittsburgh. I know that the team this year isn’t built for the long haul, as Aaron Rodgers will probably be playing his last football, but he does give the team a shot this year. Then we will look to Kahn & Company to restock a few pieces for next year.  As a fan, it’s nice that the Steelers never seem to be throwing in the towel.

SOMETHING I’VE SOFTENED ON

The idea that the Steelers never make any big moves in the offseason. Kahn smashed that thought into a gazillion pieces this offseason.  The Steelers have been active both in free agency and in the trade market. The trade and extension for DK Metcalf…I didn’t see that one coming. Then trading what I will call the unhappy/unpredictable George Pickens (now the famous Spanish call of “Pickett a Pickens!” is totally irrelevant). Signing Darius Slay and eventually Aaron Rodgers after allowing both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson to exit in free agency. And then, just when we were in a part of summer where we feel like nothing ever happens, the Steelers trade away Minkah Fitzpatrick and obtain Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith. We are yet to see how all these new pieces work, but I do find the prospect of what the team could be very intriguing. So kudos to Omar Kahn and the rest of the organization for not just running it back and giving the fans a similar product to last year. This product is hopefully better than last year.  Who knows, the talent is there, maybe this team can make a serious run at number seven.

SOMETHING THAT HASN’T CHANGED

The fan base will never see eye to eye on the moves the Steelers make every year. I hope Omar Kahn is able to tune the armchair GM’s among us (and I can be as bad at it as the next guy) and do what he needs for the team. There were plenty of people who were livid after trading George Pickens, but I am trusting the Steelers as they usually let WR’s walk at just the right time. I wasn’t keen on bringing in Rodgers at first, but was okay with it when it finally happened, as I think I am seeing the longer term thought at the QB position, but there are fans I’ve talked to who usually attend a couple of games every year and have said they won’t attend with Rodgers at QB. I guess what I’ve really figured out is there are fans that will love every move, fans that will criticize every move and ones that love some moves and hate others. I don’t think that makes us unique as a fan base, but due to the passion of the fan base we are louder than other team’s fan bases so we do often find ourselves at odds with each other. It’s okay to be at odds because we are all entitled to our worthless two cents, and it’s okay because we can all still be Steelers fans.

There you have it. My worthless 2 cents. Maybe you liked it, maybe you didn’t. Maybe you want to tell me to shove my worthless two cents up my big nostrils. Maybe you have your own worthless 2 cents you would like to share. If so please feel free to share it in the comments below, I might look at it and tell you to shove it up your big nostrils…but that’s okay, because we are still friends.