Steelers' Kenny Pickett Is Living Lavishly In Unhinged Cleveland Media's Collective Head

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the model NFL franchise. The organization has been to eight Super Bowls, winning the Lombardi Trophy six times. Since they hired Chuck Noll in 1969, the Steelers have posted just nine losing seasons. After Franco Harris plucked the ball out of the air to complete the Immaculate Reception, the Steelers have finished below .500 just six times in 50 years. Mike Tomlin has only coached one game in his entire career where the Steelers were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. 

The Cleveland Browns have posted the worst record in the AFC since it was created in 1970. There was a stretch when Otto Graham played for Cleveland over 60 years ago that the Browns were a consistent contender for NFL Championships. Since Jim Brown led them to the 1964 NFL Championship, the franchise has been mostly irrelevant in January. 

Technically, the current Cleveland Browns are not even the franchise that won those long forgotten titles. When Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore, those championships went with them. The NFL, in an act of pure mercy, allowed the expansion franchise they awarded to Cleveland to retain the Browns logo and lay claim to the history of the organization.

The Cleveland fan contingent on social media is at best, obnoxious, and at worst, delusional. Something is changing in the city, dubbed the 'Mistake on the Lake.' The fans have always hated the Steelers, but now the local media is joining in. On Friday, 92.3 FM The Fan in Cleveland during The Ken Carman Show With Anthony Lima, aired a segment with an evaluation of Kenny Pickett’s career prospects.

“Last year, I said he can be at best Ryan Tannehill,” Carman began. “Ryan Tannehill can get you to the playoffs and win football games. He’s done it before. I don’t know if he can do it again. But you’ve got that nutjob like Ryan Clark saying he is going to get MVP votes.”

Steelers QB1 Kenny Pickett Blasted With Feeble Comparison To Bubby Brister By Incompetent Cleveland Hack

Carman is giving more credit to Pickett than Sports4Cle on Cleveland.com did in June. Dave Bacon and Garrett Bush ridiculously contended that Pickett did not favorably compare to Bubby Brister or Deshone Kizer. Tannehill has at least led the Tennessee Titans to the number-one seed in the AFC, recently. Carman’s take on Tannehill is a more reasonable comparison, but then he just couldn’t help himself. He plunged belly first into the deep end of the pool.

“Because of this onslaught of love, the damn Steelers, I cannot tell you. It’s becoming an insatiable fire of what I want them to do which is lose. I just want them to lose so badly. It is bordering obsession right now. Every day I look at my phone and I see something new about that guy [Pickett]. I'm getting to that level.”

A local sports radio personality who is a homer through and through should have a certain level of disdain for a rival. It is a healthy dose of red meat for the fan base. The level of vitriol here is striking and, frankly, unwarranted. Despite their insistence, the Browns are not the Steelers rival. According to Statmuse.com, over the last 20 seasons, Cleveland is 7-32-1 against Pittsburgh.

Browns fans are a delusional bunch and, like clockwork, take to social media every March through their mathematic elimination from the playoffs to tout how great the organization will do. They turn angry during the stretch run and the playoffs. Mostly because those are the months of the year that they realize just how irrelevant they are in professional football. 

The only thing new is how the local media personalities are hopping on the hopeless, hate-filled bandwagon. It is tough to see Pittsburgh twice a year, knowing that your team has a better chance of finishing last in the division than beating the Steelers. Over the last 20 seasons, the Browns have finished in last place in the AFC North 13 times, which is nearly double their win total against the Steelers. It is easy to understand the hate, but in the words of the immortal Ron Burgundy, "You stay classy," Cleveland.

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Do you pity the Cleveland Browns, or do you just hate them back? Let me know what you think. Please comment below, or on my Twitter / X: @thebubbasq.

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