Tuesday’s “First Call” has some validation for those bad NFLPA grades for the Steelers, and it’s coming from some alumni of the team.

Also, a fierce AFC pass rusher may wind up in the Steelers’ division. Pitt’s former athletic director, Heather Lyke, is wrapped up in a negative story at her new university. A former Duquesne player may have finally gotten to the end of a roller coaster college hoops career.

And Robert Morris’ basketball team is a good bet for a tournament championship repeat.

Been there, done that

When it comes to how the Steelers were panned in the NFLPA grades, a pair of former players say some of the complaints were valid.

During their latest “Deebo and Joe Show,” James Harrison and Joe Haden defended the strength coaches despite the poor grades they received from players, but they piled on the poor playing field at Acrisure Stadium and the antiquated locker rooms.

One of the complaints that got a lot of attention is that the Steelers’ locker room toilets included only five stalls.

“F-minus for sure,” Haden said of the locker rooms. “When they state facts like five bathrooms, that’s just the way it was. That’s not OK. (There) could be 100 people in that joint at one time.”

Haden wasn’t done.

“With the showers, (there’s) not a lot of them joints in there, too,” Haden continued. “In the locker room, when you walk in there, it’s old. It’s wood. It got your little name on the junk. Back in the day, coming from (Cleveland), I was like, ‘Culture. This is what it is.’ But when you do look at it, it’s like, ‘Nah, this is messed up.’ We need to have bathrooms available.”

Harrison joked that he used to walk into the stall area, then counted “the feet on the floor” and would run upstairs if he needed to use a toilet in a hurry.

More of Maxx?

Could Maxx Crosby be arriving in the AFC North? It sure sounds like that is a possibility.

Albert Breer of SI.com posted Monday that the Baltimore Ravens were one of the teams in the mix to acquire the Las Vegas pass rusher.

“Teams like Dallas, Chicago, Baltimore, Buffalo, New England, Philadelphia and the Rams are keeping tabs on his availability,” Breer said.

He added, “I’d lean toward a Maxx Crosby trade happening, and maybe this week.”

Crosby is a two-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler. He had 10 sacks in 15 games last year. As a team, Baltimore only had 30 sacks. The New York Jets (26) and San Francisco 49ers (20) were the only teams with fewer.

 

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Negative headlines

In July, former Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke was hired by Syracuse in an advisory role that worked in conjunction with director of athletics John Wildhack and Chancellor Kent Syverud.

It’s taken all of eight months for Lyke to ruffle feathers in Central New York.

She is now the subject of a human relations complaint on SU’s campus. According to The Daily Orange, Lyke is accused of an “ongoing pattern of behavior (that) contributed to ‘a culture of intimidation’ within SU Athletics.”

The student paper went on to say “the complainant also cited harassment, bullying and abuse of authority.”

Lyke is believed to be a candidate to replace Wildhack, who is stepping down as AD at Syracuse. Syverud is also leaving his post.

Last month, Lyke was also named in a Title IX lawsuit filed by six former Pitt women’s basketball players against coach Tory Verdi and the school. Allegations included abusive coaching methods and a failure to investigate the reports of abuse.

What’s next?

The long and winding path of former Duquesne player Chaz Baker-Mazara has hit another roadblock.

His college basketball career began on the Bluff in the 2020-21 season after decommitting from Mississippi Valley State. He played 15 games and averaged 9.5 points for the Dukes, then transferred to San Diego State for a year.

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After a season at a junior college, Baker-Mazara spent two years at Auburn, making the 2025 Final Four as the team’s second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game.

This year, at age 26, he went to USC and was averaging over 18 points per contest. But over the weekend, he was dismissed from the Trojans team after a strange incident when he returned to the floor after suffering an injury, but sat along the baseline instead of on the bench with the rest of the team. All coach Eric Musselman said was that Baker-Mazara claimed he couldn’t keep playing.

At 18-11, the Trojans are in a spiral as it is. They’ve dropped five in a row and have fallen to 11th place (7-11) in the Big Ten conference.

Looking to do it again

Robert Morris isn’t exactly favored to repeat as Horizon League men’s basketball champs. But it’s close.

FanDuel Sportsbook has the Colonials at plus-240 odds to win the conference tournament. Only Wright State at plus-230 is favored in front of them.

The Raiders won the regular season conference title at 15-5 (20-11 overall). RMU was second at 13-7 (21-10). But the Colonials beat Wright State twice in February, 72-66 at home and 81-68 on the road.

Andy Toole’s team closed the year on a seven-game win streak. Robert Morris hosts Youngstown State in a first-round tournament game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the UPMC Events Center.

Sophomore forward DeSean Goode was named Horizon League Player of the Year on Monday. He was also placed on the all-league first team. Teammate Ryan Prather Jr. earned second-team recognition. Darius Livingston was named to the league’s all-freshman team. Nikolaos Chitikoudis earned a spot on the all-defensive squad.