Steelers Now
On Friday, Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II explained the team’s decision to leave late in the week to Ireland. The Steelers arrived to the Emerald Isle a little after 8 a.m. local time Friday.
“It was a football decision. I would’ve liked to have had the guys over here for a few more days, too. But we’re in the middle of the season, so we’ve got to do what’s best for the football side of things. … We work with the league, too. So it’s sort of a joint discussion,” Rooney told reporters in Ireland.
The Steelers’ opponent, the Minnesota Vikings, also arrived to Ireland around 8 a.m. local time.
If Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers called the shots, the team would’ve left earlier in the week.
“It is what it is, but if the schedule had been a little different, if I could have chosen it, maybe we get over on Monday; Tuesday is the day off,” Rodgers said before Friday’s practice. “Good to get out, see some things. It’s a beautiful country, it seems like, from pictures.”
During an episode of his Not Just Football podcast in May, Steelers All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward provided insight on the Steelers last trip overseas, and to say the least, things did not go well. The Steelers lost to the Vikings, 34-27, dropping to 0-4 on the season.
According to Heyward, the Steelers made a mistake by traveling to London later in the week. The Steelers were lethargic due to the time difference. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger also had similar comments.
“We left Thursday night and arrived Friday morning,” Heyward said on his *Not Just Football *podcast. “Everybody was asleep during practice. Everybody was falling asleep during the stretch. Then we had meetings after, everybody fell asleep there. Then, during the game, everybody was asleep in the first half. It’s rough because you’re going, what? It’ll be five hours ahead? So you’re trying to get sleep on a plane going over there. It’s not ideal.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is not worried about potential distractions associated with playing in Ireland.
“I don’t view it as a balance. This is a business trip,” Tomlin said.
Tomlin feels confident in the Steelers’ travel plan for Ireland.
“It’s been a long time for me individually. … There’s been a lot of organizations since then that have traveled (internationally). Procedurally, it’s less mystical I think. Procedure is more global. There’s more shared information about how to best pull off these trips,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “We have that information, the Vikings have that information. I think it’s a less of a discussion topic in today’s game than it was in (2013) when we went to London.”
“We are doing some things to acclimate ourselves to the trip. We are working early this week to start the body clock transition process. We certainly have some best practices in term of acclimating ourselves once we begin the journey at the latter part of the week....
