Jan 17, 2017 5 min read

Mike Tomlin came out Tuesday and, in his words, immediately addressed “the elephant in the room,” surrounding the Steelers as they prepare to head to New England for the AFC Championship.

Tomlin called wide receiver Antonio Brown’s decision to post live video from the locker room on Facebook Live, foolish, selfish and inconsiderate. He added that Brown will be reprimanded for the incident, which became embarrassing for Tomlin because it caught him cursing when talking about the New England Patriots in his post-game speech, which was audible in the background of the video.

While that reprimand won’t include anything that will be noticeable on the field Sunday at Gillette Stadium, you can bet it will be a hefty fine from the team. The league also could fine Brown for violation of its social media policy.

Players are not permitted to be on social media for 90 minutes prior to a game or during the media interview session that follows.

There’s a reason for that. The NFL doesn’t want live video in the locker room that could possibly capture guys using words such as those Tomlin said last Sunday night. And, it also doesn’t want naked players being caught on video.

It was mentioned that the league does permit NFL Films into the locker room to capture post-game speeches. But those aren’t posted live. They are edited to be sure the bad words can be edited out or bleeped, if necessary, and no players are caught naked, unaware.

I can recall that happening to former Steelers’ long snapper Kendall Gammons one time in a Bill Cowher post-game speech.

As Cowher talks to his guys, Gammons was standing by his locker – listening – buck naked. It appeared on Inside the NFL later that week, but Gammon’s private parts were covered by a blurrred screen.

Even so, I mentioned it to him the next week.

“Yeah, that wouldn’t be good for anyone,” Gammons said of the world seeing him naked.

Brown’s video isn’t the end of the world. It won’t make the Patriots any more or less motivated to beat the Steelers this weekend. In fact, they’ve likely been called far worse than Tomlin’s choice of words.

But it shouldn’t have happened.

@ Save me the “Players didn’t do this under Cowher or Noll,” stuff. This is a different era of players.

Many don’t mess with the social media stuff. But many other do. It’s what they’ve grown up with.

Look at the photo that accompanies this story. There’s Le’Veon Bell with his phone in hand moments after the game.

Look around at everyday life. There are constantly kids and adults who have to video every aspect of their lives.

Me, I’m still taken aback when I hear someone referred to as a Youtube or reality TV star.

@ Brown, by the way, received $244,000 from Facebook Live this summer as one of several athletes and celebrities hired by the company to post live videos on line to increase its visibility.

Guess that worked.

@ Brown also has done other videos in the locker room following games. In fact, Tomlin was caught on video following the team’s first-round playoff win over Miami.

I’ve also been recorded by Brown when I hosted a radio show with him earlier this season. But, like Tomlin, I didn’t give it much thought at the time. Brown is constantly videoing things.

He is, in fact, all about Antonio Brown in many ways. But it doesn’t make him necessarily a bad person.

It also doesn’t affect his play on the field. In fact, because of his talent, his selfishness in many ways is a driving force.

He always wants to be part of why the Steelers win a game. And that’s not a bad thing.

Can he pout at times if he doesn’t get the ball? Sure. But show me a star receiver – or even running back – in the NFL who doesn’t?

They all feel that the best way to secure a victory is with the ball in their hands. Typically, they are right. That’s what makes them great.

@ There’s a segment of people out there who are screaming for Brown to be disciplined harshly. What should the Steelers do, bench him? Cut him?

This isn’t high school.

He’ll be dressed down by Tomlin privately – that’s how he likes to handle all of his disciplinary actions – and fined.

But he’s not getting benched. And he certainly won’t be cut.

@ Tomlin’s best line from Tuesday came when he was asked about the fact the Steelers haven’t had to face New England in the postseason when reaching the Super Bowl in 2005, 2008 and 2010.

“They haven’t had to go through us either, since I’ve been here,” Tomlin said. “So stay tuned.”

Now there’s a line Belichick will throw back in his face for sure if the Patriots win this game. But that’s just how Belichick is.

He is, in fact, the word that Tomlin used to describe him in the aftermath of the game at Arrowhead Stadium and has been going all the way back to his time when he was with the Cleveland Browns.

Doesn’t mean he’s a bad coach. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t always have his teams prepared. But he’s one of the biggest jerks in sports.

And that’s fine, because he wins. But it’s also why other coaches who are jerks get run out of their towns after one or two years.

You can be a jerk if you win. But if you’re a jerk, you’d better win.