While it would be fair to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers

have dominated the world of sports media with negative headlines over the past few seasons T. J. Watt Jersey , nothing that has happened recently comes even close to being the most drama filled season the team has had to deal with. As highlighted by Bob Labriola of Steelers.com in an asked and answered column. No team in franchise history has ever faced the level of distraction the Steelers attempted to cope with in 1977. A year full of so many problems that it almost derailed the postseason chances of one of the most talented rosters Pittsburgh has ever had. Coming off back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1974 and 1975 and arguably their greatest regular season ever in 1976 given the play of their defense and the names lost to injury, the 1977 season was a disaster. Beset by problems from the outset, some of which had carried over from the year before, the list of issues that plagued Pittsburgh that year would be unimaginable in a single season today. Off-field legal troubles would dog the team almost as soon as the 1976 season had ended. Defensive tackle Ernie Holmes was charged with cocaine possession after he was arrested for purchasing the drug in a hotel restroom while attending a wedding in Amarillo, Texas. A charge he would defeat in court, but not without the expense of $28,000 in legal fees, money loaned to him by the Steelers. Holmes would also stage a brief walk out later in the year, telling Dan Rooney “I can’t hack it.” With Rooney reportedly unconcerned by his absence.Sadly for Pittsburgh, Holmes was not the only one forced to go before a judge that season, with Chuck Noll the center of a well-publicized defamation lawsuit brought against him by Oakland Raiders safety George Atkinson. Faced with a civil suit seeking damages of $2 million for libel after Noll had label Atkinson part of the NFL’s “criminal element” in a postgame press conference the year before, Noll would miss significant time during training camp because of the trial. The Steelers coach would ultimately be found not guilty Joshua Dobbs Jersey , but not before he had been forced to identify Mel Blount as another player in the league who could be considered part of the NFL’s criminal element.In response this characterization by his head coach, Blount would file a defamation lawsuit of his own against Noll, seeking damages of $6 million and begin a holdout that would last 56 days. When asked by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette if he would be a training camp on time, Blount replied.Eventually he would return after the last game of the preseason, having agreed to drop the lawsuit, and was fined $25,000 for his absence. However, the cornerback was just one of a number of holdouts that season.Jack Lambert and Glen Edwards would both miss time in Latrobe as they held out for better contracts with Lambert staying away until the day before the final game of the preseason. Fined $500 a day by the team for his absence, Lambert’s agent, Bucky Woy, would tell the local media that his client was “very disturbed” by the fines and wanted out of Pittsburgh. He would go on to sign a five-year deal, but not before the front office has dangled thecarrot of being named team captain if he arrived at training camp on time. A move that only served to anger the linebacker and lead to a war of words in the press between Lambert’s representatives and the Steelers management.While Edwards would get a new deal as well Derwin Gray Pittsburgh Steelers Jersey , he would later regret agreeing to it, walking out on the team a few days before a Week 8 matchup with the Denver Broncos. He would return in time to play in the game, but if he had missed out, his replacement was set to be Jimmy Allen, a player who had announced his retirement the week before only to return to practice the very next day after a change of heart. Despite a record breaking season in 1976, the defense would struggle to keep points off the board in 1977, giving up a total of 243 points. A year removed from allowing the lowest amount in team history of just 138 points. The kicking game would struggle at times as well in the early parts of the season, as Roy Gerela would acknowledge to the press. A loss to the Raiders in Week 2 would result in the headline “End of a dynasty” from the Post-Gazette, while the frustration of some questionable calls by officials would begin to get to Joe Greene. He would be fined for remarks he made to the press about the state of refereeing in the league. Comments he would later apologize for.In the eyes of their opponents, the Steelers were a team in disarray in 1977,with far too much off-field drama to be able to effectively compete in the AFC Central. As per Cleveland running back Greg Pruitt before the Browns Week 9 loss in Pittsburgh.Heading into the final two weeks of the season, the Steelers would guarantee themselves the division crown with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals who were a game back on them in the standings. Winners of their last six in a row against the Bengals Derwin Gray Pittsburgh Steelers Jersey , Pittsburgh was confident of victory. As per Greene ahead of the matchup.The Bengals would win by seven points and Noll would leave Cincinnati with a broken arm having slipped on the ice the day before the game. Needing the Houston Oilers to beat the Bengals in the last game of the year to have any chance of winning the division, Pittsburgh were saved by a 21-16 Oilers victory. Appreciative of Houston’s efforts, the Steelers would send all the players and coaches on the Oilers roster leather briefcases as a thank you. Finishing with a 9-5 record, Pittsburgh would take on the 12-2 Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium and although tied at the start of the fourth quarter, would eventually lose their opening round game 34-21. A disappointing end to a tumultuous season that Noll would later blame on the distractions the team had to deal with over the course of the season.Thankfully for everyone concerned, all of this happened long before the arrival of the internet and social media and it is hard to imagine quite how extreme the response would have been if a team went through this much drama today. For all of the headlines the Steelers have generated because of their troubles of the last few years, nothing this current roster has done comes close to the drama created by the 1977 team. Fans and media members alike would have questioned if Noll was losing the locker room and whether he could still lead the team, while some would be calling out Greene for threatening officials. Lambert, Blount and Edwards would be considered disloyal, with many fans likely wanting them to be traded and Holmes would probably have been released by the Steelers and suspended by the league. Instead, the front office made relatively few changes during the offseason that followed and Pittsburgh would go on to win two more Super Bowl titles in 1978 and 1979 with the virtually the same team. A plan the Steelers might be well served to repeat this year all things considered.Credit must go to both Bob Labriola of Steelers.com and especially Gordon Dedman of SteelersUK.com for many of the historic quotes and specific details referenced in this piece. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A Pittsburgh Steelers team that kept finding ways to win during a six-game winning streak now has fallen short at the end for a third straight game.A slick field that led to kicker Chris Boswell losing his footing on a potential game-tying kick is to blame this time.Boswell missed a 40-yard attempt after the Steelers used a hook-and-lateral to get into position following Derek Carr’s go-ahead touchdown pass that sent Pittsburgh to a 24-21 loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.“Sometimes it makes it worse when it’s right there Derwin Gray Jersey 2019 ,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “If you get blown out it doesn’t seem to hurt as bad as when you have a chance.”The Steelers (7-5-1) have sure had their chances during their current skid. Roethlisberger threw an interception at the goal line with just over a minute left of a 24-17 loss to Denver on Nov. 25 and Pittsburgh then lost last week when Mike Badgley made a field goal on the final play in a 33-30 victory for the Chargers last week.This week it was a missed kick by Pittsburgh that determined the outcome. Boswell also missed a 39-yard field goal against the Raiders (3-10) and has six missed field goals and five missed extra points for the most combined missed kicks in the NFL this season.Coach Mike Tomlin called Boswell’s slump disappointing and wouldn’t commit to sticking with his kicker long term.“He’s not the only one disappointed,” Boswell said. “I mean this is a business. You’re evaluated by results and I’m not getting it done right now so whatever happens from here happens.”The loss cost the Steelers a chance to open up some ground in the AFC North race with Baltimore. The Steelers still lead the Ravens by a half-game, but have matchups with New England and at New Orleans the following two weeks.Roethlisberger almost led an impressive comeback after missing the first four series of the second half with a rib injury. He returned to the game after backup Joshua Dobbs failed to generate any points on four drives and Derek Carr gave Oakland a 17-14 lead with a 3-yard TD pass to Lee Smith with 5:20 to play.Big Ben then led a 75-yard drive capped by his second 1-yard TD pass of the game to JuJu Smith-Schuster, putting Pittsburgh on top 21-17 with 2:55 to go.But Roethlisberger was only a spectator as Carr drove the Raiders to the go-ahead score, a 6-yard pass on fourth down to Derek Carrier with 23 seconds left.“We’re there at the ball,” Tomlin said. “We’re not making plays on the ball. Probably equally as frustrating is we’re not making them and they are. It’s not like those balls are falling incomplete so we still have work to do.”Pittsburgh almost overcame that when Roethlisberger threw a short pass to James Washington for a 5-yard gain. Washington then flipped the ball to Smith-Schuster, who raced down the sideline for 43 more yards to set up Boswell’s kick that went right into the line when he lost his footing.“The field is the field,” he said. “You can’t complain about it. You can’t blame anything. It’s as bad as it is for me as it is for anyone else. You just have to find a way to put it through.”