Based on Bradshaw’s out-of-left-field gasbagging about Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin on a recent episode of FS1’s “Speak for Yourself,” it seems that any clue Bradshaw might have had left him a long time ago — if he ever had one at all.
Bradshaw then had the audacity to add another “at all’’ for emphasis.
Fact: Not long after that highly educational TV program aired, the Steelers defeated the Ravens on Christmas to clinch their seventh playoff berth in the 10 seasons Tomlin has coached them.
Fact: The Steelers are 102-57 on Tomlin’s 10-year watch.
Fact: They have won five AFC North division titles, including two of the last three, two AFC Championships and one Super Bowl in that span.
Apparently Bradshaw does not deal in — or pay attention to — facts. Or maybe he really is as dumb as Henderson said he was and truly cannot read.
Predictably, Tomlin’s players came to his defense after Bradshaw’s preposterous comments began to circulate. But it was the passionate way in which the players spoke to reporters in Pittsburgh about their coach that was the true measure of how ridiculous the comments were.
Tomlin took the Bradshaw rant in stride.
“Criticism and critiques are very much part of our business,” he said. “It’s an element of our business that as a competitor I embrace. Now that being said, terms like ‘cheerleader guy,’ to me, maybe fall outside of the bounds of critique or criticism. They probably fall more toward the area of disrespect and unprofessional.
Hammer. Laid. Down. Game, set, match.