Welcome to Paul Zeise’s weekly mailbag, where the Post-Gazette columnist answers your questions about sports, life and everything in between. If you want to ask a question, tweet him @PaulZeise or email him at pzeise@post-gazette.com.
Author’s note: My duties at the Post-Gazette and my schedule have changed. I will be doing more live videos each week. In general, they will be around 5 p.m. each day. You can find all our Post-Gazette videos on our YouTube channel here. As we figure out our new schedule, the mailbag will move from Wednesdays to later in the week, so keep firing those questions at me every week.
Let’s get started:
Jay: If Steeler ownership is no longer making winning in the playoffs their top priority, and it's clear they are not because Steeler ownership seems to be satisfied with mediocre performances year - after - year, so something other than winning seems to be the top priority now? That being said they should show proper respect to all the great Steeler teams and players of the past by changing the name of the team, and the uniform as well. Same goes for the Pirates.
Zeise: I think the priority is winning on some level, but it isn’t their highest priority. They love their stability model and the fact that they always have nonlosing seasons and have a chance to get to the playoffs. They are good doing that as long as they don’t start having losing seasons. There is no panic or sense of urgency at all. There just isn’t. And it also doesn’t hurt that all of the tickets are sold every year so there is no incentive to win more. The tickets are already sold.
Nate: With Art Rooney revealing that it's "unlikely" that both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields will be back for the Steelers next season, does that mean they will need to sign a legit back-up QB, among other things this off-season?
Zeise: Legit is a strong word. I would say it will be a journeyman or maybe a younger guy like Mac Jones who might have some more potential to reach. I don’t think it will be an exciting name at all.
Engstock: It seems logical to think that maybe the best thing for the Steelers would be to have a 3-4 win season or two and draft high. But that's not a panacea. If it were the Browns and Jets would have been going deep in the playoffs by now. When people complain to you about Steelers who aren't playing well you correctly point out that those guys wouldn't be in Pittsburgh if Mike Tomlin hand't wanted them. So if the Steelers were to bottom out and draft high are you confident that Tomlin is a good enough judge of talent to make them a legitimate Super Bowl contender?
Zeise: The theory about drafting high comes down to one position — quarterback. The Browns have been terrible at drafting quarterbacks. Do I think Mike Tomlin would make the right call in the top five? I think he would make the no-brainer pick. And at that point, it is a crap shoot. A lot of can’t-miss quarterbacks drafted high have missed. But that’s the theory — they need to bottom out to have a shot at drafting a franchise quarterback.
John: Are you really making a comparison to boxing when you talk about knocking out the champion? .Comparing football to boxing it's OK for officials to make errors and or play review errors as long as they are for the favorite. Sorry, that makes no sense at all. When a play is reviewed and they still get it wrong ,well, that sucks.
Zeise: No, the comparison I made is that in order to beat the champion, you have to knock them out. And the champ is usually going to get a little bit of the benefit of the doubt from officials, and you have to overcome that by leaving no doubt. That’s all I meant.
Xavier: What is the point of still having the NFL Pro Bowl when it's literally a flag football game now? What's next? The MLB All-Star Game is turned into a wiffle ball contest?
Zeise: There is no purpose. And when I see guys like Drake Maye getting added, they need to cancel the thing. But it is the NFL, and if they think they can squeeze a nickel out of anything, they will try. There is enough of an appetite for football that some looney tunes will watch it, and that means they can sell ads to it. I mean, think about it — in a few weeks, they will televise a week’s worth of guys in T-shirts and shorts running the 40-yard dash and lifting weights and people will watch it.
Oliver: Can you believe Pickett is going to the Super Bowl??Third player that has left the Steelers to go to the Super Bowl after getting away from Tomlin!! TJ Watt might want to move on and George Pickens probably has one foot out the door. If he doesn’t get an extension, will he sit out the season?
Zeise: The Pickett cult is weird to me, but yes, I knew he had a chance to go to the Super Bowl when he signed with the Eagles because they are one of the best teams in the NFL. Watt wants to be a Steeler, and I think if Pickens holds out, he is being foolish. He isn’t that good yet, and the Steelers would trade him in a heartbeat if he pushed too hard.
Linda: Now that Pete Carroll is going to the Raiders, I think Russell Wilson would be welcome in Las Vegas. What do you think?
Zeise: I think it definitely increases the probability of that happening, for sure. No question about it. I don’t think it is a done deal, but Carroll and Wilson apparently have patched up their strained relationship, and obviously the most success both have had in the NFL is when they were together. Wilson is definitely an upgrade over the Raiders’ current quarterbacks, but that’s not saying much.
Zach: Why do you think the city of Pittsburgh doesn't put more pressure on Pirates ownership to win, considering they play in a taxpayer funded stadium? They did this in Milwaukee in the early 2000's, and the Brewers have been a contender ever since.
Zeise: Why would the city of Pittsburgh do that? And what leverage does the city have? Bob Nutting is never going to change his ways, and for better or worse, the city is better off with the Pirates even if they stink than not having the Pirates. The leaders of the city know this and they also have a lot of more pressing things to worry about.
Steve: What do the Penguins see in P.O. Joseph? Ryan Graves is paid a ton of money and is a career +86, but he can’t sniff the ice. Joseph is a career -10, we trade to bring him back, and he’s inserted as a staple in the lineup. I don’t know the intricacies of evaluating NHL defenseman, but +\- seems a decent measure. Aside from Petterson and Letang, Sullivan seems to love playing defenseman that let in more goals than the team scores.
Zeise: At this point, I am not sure. They have seemingly been swapping Graves in for Joseph, at least the last few games. Joseph is still relatively young, and maybe they are deluding themselves into thinking he still has potential to tap into. He is four years younger than Graves, so maybe they seem more upside, as well.
Amy: Do you think that the Pitt win over North Carolina put them in the NCAA Tournament?
Zeise: No, but it was an important win for them. The Panthers need to keep winning and make sure they don’t slip up at home. They play North Carolina again, so it will be another opportunity to get a win that strengthens their resume. I think they are in good shape as long as they don’t have any more losing streaks and they don’t lose any bad games.
Chad: Do you think we will ever have an NFL team based out of Canada? The other 3 major sports have at least one out of the great white north, so I'm thinking it's only a matter of time.
Zeise: No, I don’t, mostly because Canada has its own league and I don’t think the NFL would want to step on its toes in that way. Now, if the CFL ever folds, I would think a team in Toronto or Montreal would be almost a guarantee.
First Published: January 31, 2025, 12:31 a.m.
Updated: January 31, 2025, 6:00 p.m.