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00:00Uh, first, let's hear Mike, uh, talk about, uh, he was asked by, and I will say this,
00:04the reporters, uh, for the first time, and some people were mentioning this, they really
00:08were kind of giving Mike some tough ones, they're pushing back.
00:12There really wasn't a lot of softball stuff with Mike after another playoff loss, uh,
00:16yesterday in the, in the year.
00:17Here's one where he was asked if the Steelers have been stuck in the same place, uh, every
00:23single year.
00:24Here's what Mike had to say.
00:25Um, you know, I don't know that I've looked at it from that perspective.
00:29I'm certainly disappointed that I'm not working to prepare to play this week, um, and I've
00:34certainly felt that in recent years, um, but stuck is kind of a helpless feeling and I
00:40don't know that I feel helpless.
00:41Well, what gives you optimism, what is that optimism that, you know, you guys can emerge
00:45from this sort of place you've been in?
00:47You know, I don't know that I'm ready to be overly optimistic or sell optimism to you
00:51either.
00:52I'm just acknowledging what transpired and what has to happen and what is beginning to
00:56happen and acknowledging the, the, the, the complexity and the amount of work that's ahead
01:02of us.
01:03Um, certainly feel capable.
01:05Um, but, but, you know, definitely doesn't feel in the mood, uh, for, for optimism or
01:12the selling of optimism.
01:13I don't know that that's appropriate.
01:15Um, you know, it's disappointing not to be working.
01:18And so that's where we are fair enough.
01:22Like, you know, it is what it is like, they're not getting rid of him.
01:25So you can sit there and a bellyache like me for days on end.
01:30I'm frustrated as much as anyone is in Pittsburgh.
01:34I think it's a lot like, you know, Buffalo, uh, when they lose all the time, the frustration
01:39boils over into the community because that's all they live for.
01:42You understand?
01:43Like people in Pittsburgh live for the Steelers and more so believe me more so than the penguins.
01:50Uh, it's a Steeler town and always has been.
01:54And when they lose it's full on onset of depression.
01:58I mean, literally even little kids, everyone is depressed because Pittsburgh is depressing
02:06to begin with.
02:07It is a steel town.
02:09It is a bad snow belt town like Buffalo is to Western New York.
02:14And when all it does is crappy weather, snow and misery, even in the summer, it's hot as
02:19hell and humid and miserable.
02:22It's never nice.
02:23It's like a sunny day in Pittsburgh is like a rarity.
02:27So when all you ever have is depression and angst and losing and, and just that vibe,
02:33it carries through to people and they literally, they don't function.
02:37They don't work well.
02:38They don't, they're not productive.
02:40Less babies are born the whole deal.
02:42Nobody does anything.
02:43No one's in a good mood.
02:44No one's nice.
02:45Pittsburgh's a nice town.
02:47People are cool to one another.
02:48There's not a bunch of, you know, a holes in Pittsburgh.
02:51But when they lose, there are.
02:53Here's Mike.
02:56He was asked if he's still the right man for the job in Pittsburgh.
03:00I think a lot of fans have been questioning coaching at the top, starting with you.
03:04If you are still the right guy for this job, what's your message to them?
03:08You know, I have no response to that.
03:10I understand the nature of what it is that we do, the attention and criticism that comes
03:14with it.
03:15As a matter of fact, I, I embrace it to be quite honest with you.
03:19I've heard it all.
03:20I enjoy the urgency that comes with what I do and what we do.
03:25I don't make excuses for failure.
03:27I own it.
03:29But I also feel like I'm capable.
03:31And so as long as I'm afforded an opportunity to do that, I will continue.
03:37But I certainly understand their frustrations.
03:39And probably more importantly than that, I, I share it because that's how I'm wired.
03:45And so, um, I'm not a big time comfort seeker and particularly in, in circumstances such
03:51as this, I don't view myself as a comfort provider because there's, you know, words
03:56of hollow to be quite honest with you.
03:59It's about what we do and less about what we say.
04:03And so I've learned to say very little, um, when things are going good and I've learned
04:07to say less when they aren't.
04:10So I gotta be honest with you, this guy, uh, he really is exactly what you just saw.
04:16A guy that I really believe he loves his players and he loves people that are in the organization.
04:23He loves the Roonies.
04:25He loves Pittsburgh, but he could give a flying F what you think of him as a fan.
04:33He does not care what fans think of him and never will.