Jul 1, 2022 4 min read

In a recent and well-publicized interview with former Steelers safety Ryan Clark, among others, head coach Mike Tomlin sounded nothing short of excited about seeing what lay beyond the certitude of having a franchise quarterback.

After all, as Tomlin’s critics are quick to point out, he had Ben Roethlisberger to start every one of his previous 15 seasons. This, of course, overlooks the fact that other coaches who have had Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks such as Sean Payton in New Orleans or Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, have had losing seasons despite the presence of players at the position who are widely considered better than Roethlisberger.

But we digress.

Speaking to Clark and others on The Pivot podcast, Tomlin said he is “excited about being uncomfortable” regarding the Steelers’ quarterback situation in 2022.

“I’m looking forward to the anxiety associated with that uncertainty,” Tomlin said. “To have to stand and deliver, to live out what we believe in – the standard is the standard. It’s like McDonald’s. You know what a No. 1 is. It doesn’t matter what corner of the globe, a No. 1 is a No. 1, and that’s what I want Pittsburgh Steelers football to be. So it doesn’t matter who puts their hands underneath the center, as far as I’m concerned. But, with all that cool stuff being said, it’s scary. But exciting.”

Are those his true feelings?

Everything about this offseason seems to point in that direction.

Tomlin spoke with great pleasure about the process that led to the Steelers selecting quarterback Kenny Pickett in the draft. The Steelers immediately moved to sign Mitch Trubisky in free agency. They’ve shown no trepidation at any point during this process.

It’s been an offseason of great upheaval for the Steelers. They were as active as they’ve ever been in free agency, in part because they finally had money to spend to add the players they felt necessary to round out their roster.

That hasn’t always been the case. After all, there were some seasons when Roethlisberger ate up 15 percent of the team’s salary cap.

So, while it’s certainly a blessing to have a franchise quarterback, they also cost money – lots of it.

This year’s quarterback room accounts for about five percent of the salary cap.

That certainly allows for more balanced spending. And perhaps that’s why Tomlin is so excited about what awaits the Steelers in 2022.

n Somebody is going to have to work really hard to convince me that USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten is good for college football.

I know those Rutgers vs. USC and Purdue vs. UCLA football games are going to be huge draws for the TV audiences.

Those lengthy road trips West Virginia has playing in the Big 12 against natural rivals such as TCU and Baylor certainly seem to have worked out for the Mountaineers and their fans.

n The Pirates on Thursday night became the first team in Major League Baseball history to have three different players have a three-home run game in the same month.

First came rookie Jack Suwinski. Then Bryan Reynolds. Thursday night, the final day of the month, catcher Michael Perez pulled off the same feat.

Suwinski leads all rookies in home runs this season. Reynolds has shown power throughout his MLB career. But Perez? He entered Thursday night’s game against the Brewers batting .129 with three home runs and six RBI.

If he weren’t a catcher, and the Pirates weren’t short at the position, he wouldn’t even be in the majors.

n This year’s Washington County automatic entrant into the Pony World Series includes seven players from Canon-McMillan, six from Trinity, one from McGuffey and one from Bentworth high schools.

A total of 45 players tried out for this year’s team, including students from the Chartiers-Houston, Washington and Fort Cherry districts, as well as Avella and Burgettstown, though the latter two were not eligible for participation on the host team this year as provisional members of the Founders League in 2022.

The top 15 players from the tryout, as chosen by manager Tyler Rubasky, will be the host team. A second team of players from the Founders League, managed by Burgettstown’s Dave Stevens, will try to qualify for the Pony League World Series through the Host Zone Tournament.

Currently, players from every school district in Washington County – with the exception of Peters Township – are eligible to try out for the Pony League World Series host team. All those players must do is abide by participating league rules.