Mike Tomlin strikes us as the type of guy who always sounds like a football coach. He could be talking about Spider 2 Y Banana, Thanksgiving dinner or setting up the wifi router in his den and Tomlin will always speak with the tone and cadence of an NFL sideline prowler.
This suspicion has gained steam after watching the longtime Steelers coach deliver a commencement address at Robert Morris University last Friday. Over 16 minutes, Tomlin's comments touched on familiar themes of these types of addresses (chase your dreams, be the hammer not the nail, et al) as well as some loving remembrances of late Steelers chairman Dan Rooney.
But the speech began with Tomlin taking a not-so-subtle shot at the New England Patriots, a team we're strongly starting to suspect he doesn't like very much.
"I'll proceed with a couple of assumptions," Tomlin said. "And I realize that assumptions are very dangerous. There's a cliché about assuming, isn't it? It can make Patriots out of you and me."
Feel the burn.
Speaking of the Patriots, Tomlin also joked about the Facebook Live controversy that erupted in the Steelers locker room last January after wide receiver Antonio Brown decided to take out his camera during a Tomlin postgame speech in which the coach referred to the Patriots as a--h----.
"I'll proceed with the assumption that, in some form or fashion, one or more of you out there are somehow live-streaming this on the internet," he said. "And I'll behave accordingly."
All in good fun by Coach. Please, please, please, please don't lead your hot take shows talking about how this could be possible motivation for Bill Belichick next season. C'mon guys. I really don't want to write a mission statement.
