The NFLPA handed out grades for all 32 NFL teams in a variety of categories, and some of the grades for the Pittsburgh Steelers were downright awful. The Steelers got an F-minus for the treatment of facilities, an F for the locker room and an F for ownership.
All of these failing grades point to team President Art Rooney II and ownership refusing to invest in the team and the facilities. Critics of the team say that dated facilities hurt the team’s ability to bring in free agents. General manager Omar Khan denies that claim, however.
“I by no means think our facilities are holding us back from being successful,” Khan said.
All it takes is a simple Google search to see what the team facilities are like for most NFL teams, and there is no denying how dated the Steelers’ are compared to other teams’. The fact the Steelers share facilities with the University of Pittsburgh doesn’t help either.
Will two years of low grades have any impact on the team? Probably not. Free agency is set to start in just a couple of weeks, and it will be interesting to see which teams draw in the most high-profile free agents and whether there is any correlation between the best facilities and the best signings.