Steelers Mike Tomlin Detailed The Tebow Year[2012] Being "No question" The End Of An Era

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin sat down on The Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor and spoke about several topics in the episode released Wednesday. Last night, The Pivot Podcast released an additional video from that same interview. The group discussed a few other things, about the Super Bowl XLV loss, the end of a specific era in Steelers' history, and more!

Youtube Channel: NFL

After the discussion of the Super Bowl XLV loss to the Green Bay Packers, Clark mentions,

"We went 12-4 the next year, too. And that was the [Tim] Tebow year, right?"

After Tomlin clarified that it was the Tebow year in the 2012 playoffs, Clark said,  "And that was kind of like the end of us, of that group."

Tomlin responds,

"No question, it was the end of that group. Not only because of just the attrition that is game, the game and the age of the men, but like, dude, that team was constructed in a certain way, to play a certain way, and nobody gave up more with the player safety initiative than that team."

"Nobody gave up more, like we all give up something for the advancement of the game. I don't hate the player initiative. I'm a proponent of the player safety initiative. I got sons that's playing college football right now. How can I be against it? At that moment, though, we were constructed to win in a certain way, right. We laid people down. And that's how we got down."

"And so that initiative was counterculture to how we played football, too. And that group gave up a lot because when you played us, you knew that you could get laid down. It was the plays that we didn't have to make because people knew how we get down."

Willis McGahee told doctors he felt significant neck pain after being hit by Ryan Clark. He was taken off the field on a stretcher.Credit...Rob Carr/Associated Press

The group goes on to discuss how the rules have changed and how the league seemingly caters to the offensive side of the ball nowadays. Tomlin goes into detail about how those Steelers' teams, prior to rule changes for players' safety, were constructed,

"We played bully ball, and we were a spot drop 3-Deep team. Meaning that sometimes the ball is going to beat you there. When the ball beats you there, you bang it out."

"That's what I mean when I say we gave up more than anybody in that player safety initiative, man. Just in terms of how we went about doing business. The blueprint in which we won football games and championships had to change because they was flying these dudes to New York every week and taking money from them and us," said Tomlin while pointing at Clark.

The blueprint had to change for the previously bruising and old-school defensive Steelers, but the team hasn't seen a Super Bowl appearance since that loss to the Packers in 2011. After that "Tebow year," in the playoffs in 2012, age had caught up to a lot of Steelers' defensive playmakers and retirement was upon them all within a few years.

ESPN The Magazine

Steelers’ Mike Tomlin’s Responses On The Pivot Podcast Speak Volumes About His Leadership

Check out the full clip below!

What do yinz think about Tomlin's comments about the 2011 Steelers' season being the end of an era due to the player safety initiative? Let us know in the comment section below, or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!

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