Kordell’s players tribune article

[madinsomniac]

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/p...-SLzg9WlYt1OcO2EnnSC7RT8wOR8GbZwOsFB8svpJKeUI


A really good read... the players tribune is a magnificent concept... this particular one is steelers related but you can get some awesome points of view from the players themselves..
years ago the anonymous players reveals changed my philosophies on players and teams a lot, and Datsyuk’s from years ago remolded my thoughts on player development and coaching...


This one does two things...
A. It shows again how stupid the kordell rumors were...

B. It shows how stubborn and mentally weak Kordell was... he didn’t even have to stay slash to be great... he could have simply stayed a mobile qb instead of trying to force himself to be a pocket passer to prove all the racist yokels wrong...

 

[slashsteel]

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/p...-SLzg9WlYt1OcO2EnnSC7RT8wOR8GbZwOsFB8svpJKeUI


A really good read... the players tribune is a magnificent concept... this particular one is steelers related but you can get some awesome points of view from the players themselves..
years ago the anonymous players reveals changed my philosophies on players and teams a lot, and Datsyuk’s from years ago remolded my thoughts on player development and coaching...


This one does two things...
A. It shows again how stupid the kordell rumors were...

B. It shows how stubborn and mentally weak Kordell was... he didn’t even have to stay slash to be great... he could have simply stayed a mobile qb instead of trying to force himself to be a pocket passer to prove all the racist yokels wrong...

A **** you to whoever the fan was that called him the N word, and **** you to the pig that made up the gay lie. May both of your lives feel contraversy you ******* twatwaffles.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[mdk2]

I had a Kordell reversible jersey(home and away) when I was little. He might not have been a great QB, but he was a lot of fun to watch.
It sure beat watching Mike Tomczach or Kent Graham.

Nice article. I remember those rumors when I was young and didn't think anything of them. What a stupid rumor to even make up.

 

[Stryker]

I never knew those rumors, living in Baltimore, but everyone in Baltimore called him gay, and I thought it was when Coach Cowher kissed him.

Then they ended up signing him...

 

[SteelerSask2]

Crazy people ( I won't dignify calling them fans) who start that kinda stuff should be forced into an Okie drill at running back with the team. That aside he had a lot of issues with his play. Hard to come up with another QB that was as inconsistent. He would be in a clean pocket looked like he was mechanically sound and skip the ball three feet in front of the receiver. Playing with Kordell etc. is what is keeping Ward out of the HOF.

 

[Steelr4evr]

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/p...-SLzg9WlYt1OcO2EnnSC7RT8wOR8GbZwOsFB8svpJKeUI


A really good read... the players tribune is a magnificent concept... this particular one is steelers related but you can get some awesome points of view from the players themselves..
years ago the anonymous players reveals changed my philosophies on players and teams a lot, and Datsyuk’s from years ago remolded my thoughts on player development and coaching...


This one does two things...
A. It shows again how stupid the kordell rumors were...

B. It shows how stubborn and mentally weak Kordell was... he didn’t even have to stay slash to be great... he could have simply stayed a mobile qb instead of trying to force himself to be a pocket passer to prove all the racist yokels wrong...

Kordel would have been a great wide receiver. Him trying to be a pocket passer is like pounding a square peg into a round whole. He just did not have the mental toughness. His meltdown in that AFCCG vs Denver was pretty much it from that point on. I really felt bad for him and the team. It was pretty clear we could never win a championship with him at the helm from that point on he never really recovered.


Fans are ******* ******** too. It goes that way with every qb at the helm. The **** they did with Bradshaw after he won 4 superbowls tells that tale clearly.

 

[SteelerSask2]

Kordel would have been a great wide receiver. Him trying to be a pocket passer is like pounding a square peg into a round whole. He just did not have the mental toughness. His meltdown in that AFCCG vs Denver was pretty much it from that point on. I really felt bad for him and the team. It was pretty clear we could never win a championship with him at the helm from that point on he never really recovered.


Fans are ******* ******** too. It goes that way with every qb at the helm. The **** they did with Bradshaw after he won 4 superbowls tells that tale clearly.

41 catches for 648 yards. I think great is a stretch. He could have had a more productive career as a receiver. I will grant that. But great. Not sold.

 

[mdk2]

Kordel would have been a great wide receiver. Him trying to be a pocket passer is like pounding a square peg into a round whole. He just did not have the mental toughness. His meltdown in that AFCCG vs Denver was pretty much it from that point on. I really felt bad for him and the team. It was pretty clear we could never win a championship with him at the helm from that point on he never really recovered.


Fans are ******* ******** too. It goes that way with every qb at the helm. The **** they did with Bradshaw after he won 4 superbowls tells that tale clearly.

So true. You could say the same for what fans have been saying about Ben now too. Other websites I go on, the comments are pathetic about Ben.

 

[SteelerSask2]

So true. You could say the same for what fans have been saying about Ben now too. Other websites I go on, the comments are pathetic about Ben.

To me no one gets a free pass. It isn't what you did its what you will do. Personally, I don't believe Ben can lead this team to a tittle next year with the roster as it will be and the coaches who they are. That said, I think he had a near MVP start to the season and fizzled in the last 1/4. Passing 40 plus times a game didn't help. But I have the upmost respect for Big Ben and his career with the Steelers.

 

[mdk2]

To me no one gets a free pass. It isn't what you did its what you will do. Personally, I don't believe Ben can lead this team to a tittle next year with the roster as it will be and the coaches who they are. That said, I think he had a near MVP start to the season and fizzled in the last 1/4. Passing 40 plus times a game didn't help. But I have the upmost respect for Big Ben and his career with the Steelers.

That's a valid opinion, the key is respect. A lot of fans have no respect for the player.

 

[SteelerSask2]

That's a valid opinion, the key is respect. A lot of fans have no respect for the player.

Agreed. I have no respect left for Antonio Brown for the way he left this team I don't give a **** what happens to the rest of his career. That said, I did enjoy watching him play in Pittsburgh and he was my favorite player for a couple years, until I learned what a gigantic ******* he really is. But even at that, his personal life is his business. And messing with that kinda stuff should always be off limits to anyone who would call themselves a fan.

 

[Coryea]

Agreed. I have no respect left for Antonio Brown for the way he left this team I don't give a **** what happens to the rest of his career. That said, I did enjoy watching him play in Pittsburgh and he was my favorite player for a couple years, until I learned what a gigantic ******* he really is. But even at that, his personal life is his business. And messing with that kinda stuff should always be off limits to anyone who would call themselves a fan.

I agree, I watch Tiger Woods for what he does on the golf course, that other stuff is his business.

It's the stuff that effects the team is what I didn't like about AB. The way he left, running the wrong routes, playing lazy when the ball isn't coming to him, acting like a douche when someone else makes a big play.

 

[SteelerSask2]

I agree, I watch Tiger Woods for what he does on the golf course, that other stuff is his business.

It's the stuff that effects the team is what I didn't like about AB. The way he left, running the wrong routes, playing lazy when the ball isn't coming to him, acting like a douche when someone else makes a big play.

Agreed. And just being an overall team cancer and poisoning the well on the way out. Zero respect nor care what happens to his career. I'd hate that ******* to be a champion after this weekend.

 

[Steelmann]

I signed up a long time ago to get their articles delivered to my email. Many great stories from so many different athletes in all different sports.
You can go through all the archived ones. Many great reads.

 

[Steeltime]

Stewart would have been an extremely good WR. 6'1", 220 lbs., fast as lightning. Remember the game against Cincinnati in 1995 when the Steelers are trailing 31-28 going into the 4th quarter? One announcer, maybe Paul McGuire, laughs and says, "Wow, Stewart is absolutely running free in the Bengals secondary."

Five or six plays later, BOOM! O'Donnell hits him for a 71-yard TD as he blew past the CB and then the S. Guy that big and that fast would have been a tremendous receiver.

He was, unfortunately, a terrible passer. Awful. Locked onto guys, threw into coverage. Playoff passing? 48% completion, 2 TD's, 8 interceptions. That is bad. Horrible.

 

[slashsteel]

Stewart would have been an extremely good WR. 6'1", 220 lbs., fast as lightning. Remember the game against Cincinnati in 1995 when the Steelers are trailing 31-28 going into the 4th quarter? One announcer, maybe Paul McGuire, laughs and says, "Wow, Stewart is absolutely running free in the Bengals secondary."

Five or six plays later, BOOM! O'Donnell hits him for a 71-yard TD as he blew past the CB and then the S. Guy that big and that fast would have been a tremendous receiver.

He was, unfortunately, a terrible passer. Awful. Locked onto guys, threw into coverage. Playoff passing? 48% completion, 2 TD's, 8 interceptions. That is bad. Horrible.

I actually envision him for what he was slash - QB/RB/WR a better version of the Saints' hill.

If he stayed in that role who knows what the team would have accomplished with better starting QB play.

 

[Stlrs4Life]

I never believed any of the BS. But I knew a lot of people that did.

 

[Stainless]

My only authentic jersey is #10. If bounce passes were legal in football, that thing would probably be worth some money.

 

[pittbull]

I was born and raised in Westmoreland County, but moved away in 1990 when I joined the Air Force. I remember the rumors...Kordell got caught in Schenley park...blah, blah, blah. I believed it. Most people did...because nobody was really disputing it. Ah...the days before the internet.

I also remember coming home from leave one year...maybe around 2000 or so I went into a local town bar...small town people, mostly laborers hanging out on a weekend night. Being away from SWPA for 10 years at that point, you “forget” things. One thing that sticks with me to this day, when I went into this local bar (the Steelers were on the TV in the news) and people (plural) kept yelling (speaking loudly in a bar), “This N***** Quarterback”, “That N***** QB”. And never...not once...did anyone say something bad about Kordell following those words. IT JUST HOW THEY TALKED. It shocked me. I grew up in that environment, but it wasn’t until I moved away for 10 years did I recognize it once I heard it.

I say that to address this, “ Man, you have to understand, I’m a young Black quarterback in a blue-collar town. Being the target of those kinds of rumors? At that time? In that era? In that NFL?
Come on, man. You know what it was.
It’s sad to say, but at that time, it was a death sentence. ”

That’s bull crap. People in SWPA are, for the most part, genuine, friendly people. Even those that live in their bubble and don’t recognize perhaps their own racism are not the even people the article portrays them to be. Racism is vile and intolerable, but to make a leap and say that his life was in danger...I think that’s kind of a stretch,

 

[madinsomniac]

I was born and raised in Westmoreland County, but moved away in 1990 when I joined the Air Force. I remember the rumors...Kordell got caught in Schenley park...blah, blah, blah. I believed it. Most people did...because nobody was really disputing it. Ah...the days before the internet.

I also remember coming home from leave one year...maybe around 2000 or so I went into a local town bar...small town people, mostly laborers hanging out on a weekend night. Being away from SWPA for 10 years at that point, you “forget” things. One thing that sticks with me to this day, when I went into this local bar (the Steelers were on the TV in the news) and people (plural) kept yelling (speaking loudly in a bar), “This N***** Quarterback”, “That N***** QB”. And never...not once...did anyone say something bad about Kordell following those words. IT JUST HOW THEY TALKED. It shocked me. I grew up in that environment, but it wasn’t until I moved away for 10 years did I recognize it once I heard it.

I say that to address this, “ Man, you have to understand, I’m a young Black quarterback in a blue-collar town. Being the target of those kinds of rumors? At that time? In that era? In that NFL?
Come on, man. You know what it was.
It’s sad to say, but at that time, it was a death sentence. ”

That’s bull crap. People in SWPA are, for the most part, genuine, friendly people. Even those that live in their bubble and don’t recognize perhaps their own racism are not the even people the article portrays them to be. Racism is vile and intolerable, but to make a leap and say that his life was in danger...I think that’s kind of a stretch,

Idiots trashed Tommy maddox’s yard after a loss... never underestimate the lowlifes of any fanbase... its easy to feel threatened in that situation

 

[steelerscotty]

Kodell was a pro bowl QB when allowed to play to his strengths. Every coach he had in the NFL tried to turn him into a 7-step drop, 5-read QB. Best QB we had in the years between Brad and Ben.

 

[Lemmy]

No that would be O'Donnell. Kordell was a great athlete that could not read a defense to save his life and worse could not anticipate a throw, He had to wait for the receiver t get open before releasing the ball. Now I think in todays NFL where QBs read half the field and have so many easy reads he cold thrive coupled with his speed and running abiiity.

the kiss of death for Kordell is when we hired Ray Sherman in 98 to make him a pocket passer instead of building on his great 97 season when he ran and passed for 32 total TDs, a Steelers record at the time.

 

[madinsomniac]

Kordell had touch... he was fantastic with it in practice... I remember Stan Savaran raving about him on sportsbeat... and several others commenting about it looking so different in practice from the actual game...

After 97 he never used touch at all.. he fired the ball on five yard passes like they were twenty yard outs... he was so afraid of tossing picks that he skipped balls off tge ground and caused a ton of tipped ball picks... hell he dislocated CJ’s finger with a stupidly hard pass on a short route...

If Gailey had stayed, kordell would have been ok... but the Steelers replaced him with a guy looking to go way to conventional and then him with gilberts high concept offense that was too much read and react for Kordell...

He absolutely would have been a HOF wr... and would have fundamentally changed the position... he could have been a frequent pro bowl qb if used right, but I don’t think that he was ever making the HOF conversation there no matter what

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

kordell sucked. We said it for years when this board was formed. The gay rumors? : they were that , rumors. We the people didnt create them. Not apologizing for ****. **** right off.

 

[SteelerSask2]

This is what I will say about Kordell. He would probably be a much better QB today. The league has adjusted to his style and make it easier for a QB like this to succeed. However, his mechanics were not good enough for him to be a Mahomes or a Wilson. I'm sure there were people who were happy to see the failure. There were also people who were apologists and kept making excuses. In the end he needed to go. And I think you could attach a similar story to Tomlin now.