Mike Tomlin, while polarizing for his coach tendencies on game day, is a head coach that many will summarize as a great leader. Some of his leadership qualities, such as dedication to his team’s secrecy over media needs, came to light on Tuesday.
After the game, Justin Fields stated that the Steelers gave out an extra game ball, a “petty” game ball, to Russell Wilson for beating his former team, the Denver Broncos. Reporters were, of course, curious about this idea of a petty game ball, and asked Tomlin on Tuesday if this was something he had done often. His response, his Tomlinism, was hilarious:
‘I can’t give you all the ingredients to the hot dog, you might not like it’ #Steelers Mike Tomlin pic.twitter.com/vi0cC0apSv
— 93.7 The Fan (@937theFan) September 17, 2024
To keep it short and sweet, Tomlin doesn’t care if the reporters know about the idea of petty game balls, but it is a subject that he feels the media doesn’t need to know about. This week the Steelers have their home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.