Steelers President Art Rooney II Expresses Strong Displeasure For Team's 2023 Thursday Night Football Games During Preseason Broadcast

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a very good chance to surprise the entire AFC in 2023. There has been a plethora of hype surrounding other teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills, among others. Pittsburgh made plenty of adjustments to the roster throughout the 2023 offseason and will need all the newcomers to perform as expected if a playoff appearance is to come about. The team has one of the easier schedules in the league, but was given the short end of the stick when the schedule was released and the Steelers found out two Thursday Night Football games were forthcoming.

The Steelers first game on a Thursday will come against the Tennessee Titans in Week 9. It's definitely not ideal given the fact that Pittsburgh will face off against Tennessee's divisional foe and up-and-coming AFC competitor, the Jacksonville Jaguars the week prior. The only positive of the situation is that both games will be the start of a rare three-game home stretch.

The second Thursday night game will come against the New England Patriots in Week 14 and is also following a home game in Week 13. That doesn't change the unfortunate beating the players' bodies will have to go through. Any NFL player will strongly oppose playing a game on Thursday night during the season, let alone two in the same year.

Pittsburgh has a chance to get out of the second one against the Patriots based on the new flex rules for Thursday games. However, being flexed out of the game could potentially mean the team is not performing well and doesn't deserve to be playing in front of a national audience. Regardless, the Steelers did not receive a good draw with two games in 2023 occurring on short weeks.

Steelers President Art Rooney II Not Fond Of 2 Thursday Night Football Games

During Pittsburgh's second preseason matchup on Saturday evening, the team's President, Art Rooney II joined the local broadcast team of Bob Pompeani and Charlie Batch. Most of the conversation was casual and didn't touch on too many interesting topics, but when Thursday Night Football came up, Rooney wasn't shy in talking about his feelings. As most owners in sports, he spoke for the organization as a whole and was clear in how they feel about the two games.

"Well ya know, we will have to play them. We're not crazy about them, but Thursday night is a national game and as Coach always says, 'we want to be a team that's playing on prime time."

 It wasn't all negative. As Rooney said, it's somewhat of a compliment to be playing in prime time and Head Coach, Mike Tomlin does a great job getting the players excited for said games. Rooney echoed that sentiment once again and said that the team will put its best foot forward.

"We're happy to be able to show off to the nation. We'll make the best of it."

Rooney is an extremely stoic individual, so the fact that he expressed a hint of frustration is very telling. He began his first come of having to play them with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

The Steelers didn't get the best draw when it comes to the 2023 schedule. Week 14 against the Patriots is subject to change, but as it stands now, two games on Thursday could lead to players becoming injury prone. The only real positive thing is that both of the contests are at home and come directly after a game in Pittsburgh as well.

Do you think teams like the Steelers should be allowed to play two Thursday night games in a season? Let us know in the comments below!

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