The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New York Giants by score of 24-14. One of the sidebar discussions of the resident prognosticators wasn’t based on the fact that the Steelers leaky defense, at least momentarily, was able to keep a quarterback in check other than 2nd, 3rd or 4th stringer fresh back from a journey to “bench-land.”
No, the quarterback that they sent packing back to “Gotham City” with an 18 wheeler still filled with a couple hundred cases of unused “whoopass” was none other than future Hall-of-Fame, NY Giants QB, Eli Manning; otherwise known to his recently retired sibling, former Broncos and Colts QB Peyton Manning as “E-man.”
Now hmm, could “E-man have stood for embarrassed or enigmatic? Based on his journeyman like performance, the performance by “E-man” could have stood for empty. For most of the afternoon and evening, the Steelers defense removed all of the southern comfort from Manning’s game and caused “E-man to be as skittish as a bag of “Skittles.”
At times one could have surmised that the Steelers “Big Nasty ‘D” were more inhospitable to Manning than a den of diamondback rattlesnakes. Add to that despair, Eli Manning was forced to sit on the sidelines and witness Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and his partner-in-crime wide receiver Antonio Brown hooking up and completing; circus du soleii type catches while the Giants star receiver applauded, approving the reception by Brown. Oh, by the way Antonio Brown and Odell Beckam Jr. just happen to be “best buds.”
See a few of the bloodthirsty, “vampiric,” guts and glory media types would like to see nothing more than these two young, rich, swaggering superstars aiming at and targeting each other’s jugular, but instead of a blood-fest, these two young performers have decided on a love fest, realizing at a very young age that there is enough dough and praise to spread for everyone and they can augment and make each other’s brand stronger and more formidable in the fickle ever changing marketplace of sports.
However, according to Steve Serby on nypost.com recognizing a good play by the opposition may be frowned upon in some “media maniacal” circle. On December 4, 2017 Serby wrote the following article titled: “Odell Beckham blasts refs after his Antonio Brown lovefest.” In the article Mr. Serby points out that; “Before he began throwing a verbal flag on the officiating Sunday, Odell Beckham Jr. answered why he was smiling and clapping on the sidelines when his dynamic pal Antonio Brown caught a 22-yard touchdown pass in the Steelers’ 24-14 victory.
“I didn’t admire the points going on the board, but I admire him, so it’s a tough balance,” he said. “I would have liked for him to score next week and not this week, but the guy’s great. He’s one of the best in the league day in and day out. He came in today, he did his thing.”There will be many, of course, who do not consider this a good optic. “It is what it is, you can’t really sit there and worry about what everybody else has to say about something, or somebody’s mad because I smiled when he scored. It doesn’t really cross my mind. Like I said, the man’s like a brother to me, he’s taken me under his wing in the offseason, we go training, we do this … he’s just a good guy.
Beckham, though, was more concerned with the officiating.“I went up to ask him what was going on, what was the flag? And he said, ‘Get out of my face.’ Beckham said that he had never heard anything like that from a zebra. Serby said in regards to Odell Beckham Jr. celebrating his friend’s success:”There will be many, of course, who do not consider this a good optic. Is it a good optic for opponents to be hurling insults at each other or wishing bloodshed on one another to appease the bloodthirstiness of the cowardly, non-combatant “chicken hawks?”
abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741
Follow him on Twitter@ultrascribe.
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