Twistity Sports Exclusive: STABLE STEELERS

 
The joke is that NFL stands for Not For Long. Nothing lasts. Careers are short, patience is short and the fans quickly grow restless and eager for the next big thing.

In contrast to the roster churning and coach-firings endemic to so many franchises, the Pittsburgh Steelers tend to roll along placidly. No team has won as many as their six Lombardi trophies. No team has had so few coaches over so long a period – three since 1969.

The Rooney family owned the Steelers and owns the Steelers. The colors don’t change, the logo remains the same and healthy food has never and will never be found at a Heinz Stadium tailgate party (or, seemingly, within the city itself). Any creature that walks the earth might wind up on a spit at a pregame party.

Yet even the Steelers, a bastion of stability, show a few cracks. The Steelers haven’t made the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. They barely scratched out an 8-8 record in 2013. And when they assemble for training camp on Friday, their roster will have only seven players on it who were with them for their last Super Bowl win five years ago.

Five years is a long time in the NFL, but the Steelers seemed immune to the ticking of the clock. But one by one the heroes of that last Super Bowl – Santonio Holmes, James Harrison – were let go, and so many more are also gone as this new season looms. LaMarr Woodley. Larry Foote. Ryan Clark. Brett Keisel. Brett Keisel’s beard.

The NFL builds on tradition and it always seems to be a little bit more fun when the Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins are in the playoffs. Until the last two years, only the Steelers were routinely holding up their end of the bargain. Dallas has been stuck in an 8-8 rut for three years running (or limping) and Washington’s playoff berth in 2012, its first since 2007, was hardly a building block as the team stumbled to a 3-13 finish last year. The Raiders? Missing from the postseason since the 2002 season.

Today’s question: Which way are the Steelers going? Back to the top, down to the bottom, or are they stuck in the middle of the AFC North?
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .