Oct 4, 2014 5 min read

Russell Martin has his answer.

The big question is whether he realizes it. After the Pirates were blown out by the Giants Wednesday night, Martin was asked about his free agency plans and what the chances are he will stay in Pittsburgh.

After saying he hadn’t been thinking about it much, which no one believes, he said, “I’ve had more fun playing baseball here than I have my whole career. Definitely going to keep that in mind when the decision comes.”

And there’s his answer. He should stay with the Pirates. Martin has already made $37 million playing baseball for the Dodgers, Yankees and Pirates.

That’s the equivalent of $370,000 a year for 100 years.

He made $17 million in his two years with the Pirates and he could probably get at least $30 million more to stay in Pittsburgh for three more years.

That would be $67 million, or $670,000 a year until 2115.

A smart man would be long past making his decisions based on money. Martin should tell his boss, Bob Nutting, he wants to remain with the Pirates as they don’t try to take advantage of his situation and as long as Nutting shows him he will spend enough money to remain a contender.

Unless he’s been a total idiot with his money, by the time he’s 35 years old, Martin should never have to spend another minute of his life thinking about it.

Neither should his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great, great-grandchildren.

Pro athletes are rarely smart enough to base career decisions on anything other than how much money they’re going to make. It would be refreshing if Martin proved to be an exception.

• Antonio Brown still needs to grow up. After coming into the league as a sixth-round pick in 2010, he’s become one of the top five receivers in the NFL and one of the Steelers’ most important players. He doesn’t seem quite ready, at 26, to become one of their leaders.

His head coach, Mike Tomlin, said at his Tuesday news conference that Brown, who was penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration in the embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay Sunday, had scored enough touchdowns it should be routine by now and he wished Brown would just, “Give the ball to the ref,” after scoring.

When he was told, on his radio show, about Tomlin’s comment, Brown said, “I like to have fun. A lot of work and energy goes into scoring a touchdown and blah, blah, blah …”

Just about every player on the roster was asked this week about what should be done to cut down on the Steelers’ stupid penalties. They all said they needed to take personal responsibility. Brown should show some leadership and stop acting the fool.

• There was quite a bit of justifiable outrage when Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah was penalized for falling to his knees in prayer after returning an interception for a touchdown Monday night. The league issued an apology and said there should not be a flag for a “player who goes to the ground as part of a religious expression.”

Sounds like a sensible approach.

Unless you want to get technical about religious expression.

Why couldn’t a player say his end zone dance was a form of religious expression? Does the NFL have a list of acceptable religions, or could players make them up as they go along?

Ridiculous? Of course it is, but the official who threw the flag Monday night was going by the letter of the law, the same as the official who flagged Brown for falling to the ground.

This zero tolerance insanity is obviously a result of touchdown celebrations being out of hand for too long.

The solution is simple. When you score a touchdown, spike the ball or, better yet, give it to the referee. Say your prayers on the sideline.

• Imagine the Steelers reporting to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for training camp and, a day or two in, Ben Roethlisberger stops showing up for practice and the Steelers give no explanation. This goes on for three weeks and, as they get within a week of opening their season, no explanation for Roethlisberger’s absence is given. That’s what’s been going on with Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins, and it is very, very strange.

• Based on last season, when the Penguins and Anaheim Ducks open the season Thursday, the Penguins will probably get a TV rating in this market somewhere between 8 and 10, maybe higher. The Ducks will get a 0.20 in the Los Angeles market. It will be 4 p.m. in L.A. which will keep them under their average of 0.26.

The Ducks’ and Kings’ ratings combined added up to half a point last season. The Penguins averaged slightly more than 7. But don’t let anybody tell you there is at least one NHL team too many in Southern California.

John Steigerwald writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter