U mad, bro?: Still more on Kenny Pickett trade; venting about the state of Steelers, Penguins, Pirates

You didn’t think one week was enough for Pittsburgh to properly expel all of its emotions over the Kenny Pickett trade, did you?

Plus, the Penguins are bad, and another season of expected failure for the Pirates is on the horizon.

That’s what this week’s “U mad, bro?” is all about.

Let’s start with Robert. He sent me an email about a week before the Steelers traded away Kenny Pickett. The subject line of his email was: “Two words.”

“Troy Aikman.

Just a refresher, everything the local, and national media are writing about Kenny Pickett is the exact same thing they did with Troy Aikman, except worse. We’ll see what Kenny Pickett does with an actual coaching staff now. Even though I don’t think they should’ve hired this guy (Arthur Smith). Have you gone back and looked at Troy Aikman’s stats his first two-three years? I doubt you have.”

Hmm. How do you think Troy Aikman will look holding a clipboard in a Philadelphia Eagles helmet, Robert? Think Pickett will see the field so long as Jalen Hurts is healthy?

Here’s an email from a guy named Dave. He reached out after I posted my column in response to the Pickett trade.

“‘Methinks thou dost protest too much.’ I think you and your team looked the other way and the Steelers organization got the better of you. You never saw it coming. Wow. Also, your Friday night piece lamenting the Steelers’ lies and attempting to Benz-splain how/why it happened is kind of lame. Perhaps you and the team who cover the Steelers should put (on) your big boy pants and treat the franchise like the billion dollar corporation they are.”

Dave, I have no idea what you think I am “protesting.”

No idea how the team “got the better” of me or anyone else on my “team.” The trade was with the Eagles. Not our sports department.

That column is only “lame” if you enjoy being lied to — and I’m suspecting you do.

I have no idea how I’m failing to treat them like a billion-dollar organization.

Frankly, I have no idea what any of this email means. But, please, feel free to Dave-splain it to me.

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A different David emailed me too. He is, shall we say, frustrated with the state of Pittsburgh sports.

“It seems in Pittsburgh all 3 professional sports teams have transformed to worthless. It was bad enough when the Pirates succumbed to little league players. But now both the Steelers have become a team that shouldn’t be in the NFL because the owner and the Head Coach can’t identify a football, and our hockey team is just a senior version of the movie ‘Frozen.’ In the 70s Pittsburgh was truly the city of champions but now it is the city of losers. But the city can’t recognize its sports teams (stink).”

David, let’s go one by one.

Regarding the Pirates, you might be right. It’s entirely possible that last year’s kids from El Segundo, Calif., could’ve put together a better opening-day starting rotation than the Pirates.

In terms of the Steelers, I’m not worried about Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II identifying a football. I am, however, dubious of their ability to identify a guy capable of throwing one.

And as far as your analogy to the Penguins and “Frozen,” let’s just say when it comes to your hope of this team being a Stanley Cup contender again in the near future, I’d suggest you “let it go.”

Because this franchise has become a real “fixer upper,” and I’m just waiting for the power play to finally be good again “for the first time in forever.”

This guy is fed up with Mike Sullivan’s explanations of the Penguins’ recent losses.

Sullivan and Tomlin sound like the same coach.

— SteelSox (@tdbowersox63) March 25, 2024

Sir, at this point, I think it’s more than that they “sound like” one another. I think they have actually become the same person.

It’s like a Black and Gold “Spider-Man” meme.

Les thinks some of the speculation about the Steelers landing Brandon Aiyuk is needless.

“Aiyuk wants north of $25 million per season. Do you think the Steelers will pay that kind of money to a WR.”

Probably not, Les. But did you think they’d give $13 million to an inside linebacker like Patrick Queen when they weren’t willing to give $6 million to any of the ones available last year?

Finally, John has a concern about “U mad, bro?” in general.

“Please tell me you cherry-pick tweets from the dumbest people imaginable just so you can dunk on them. I’d hate to think that these doorknobs are actually representative of the larger fan base.”

Do I select the … um … best of the worst? Mayyyyybe.

But I wouldn’t call it “cherry picking.” It’s more like bobbing for apples at the peak of harvest season in the biggest orchard imaginable.

Listen: Tim Benz and Chris Adamski discuss some Steelers offseason roster moves, NFL rules changes, the center position and the notion of Dak Prescott at QB in 2025