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Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Mike Tomlin unite in goal #1

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PITTSBURGH — Ever since I’ve been coming to Pittsburgh, I’ve at all times been intrigued by the configuration of the rivers across the ballpark. The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers converge near Acrisure Stadium to form the Ohio River and provide a gorgeous backdrop for a fall afternoon football game.

On Sunday, the convergence of three rivers matched the convergence of fascinating aspirations because the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Baltimore Ravens in the primary roadshow game of the season for each teams. The aspirations belonged to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, quarterback Russell Wilson and backup quarterback Justin Fields.

Everyone desires to win a championship – Tomlin and Wilson have already done it, and Fields desires to be shown the best way. They made a conscious alternative to fulfill in Pittsburgh to attain their goals. It was fascinating to look at this process: a series of mentorship connecting three generations of black men: the 52-year-old coach, his 35-year-old quarterback and his 25-year-old backup.

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In a typical Ravens-Steelers match on Sunday, Pittsburgh won 18-16, however the is simply a footnote to greater aspirations.

Tomlin has won a Super Bowl championship, but not for a while. Wilson also won a championship, but not for a while. Fields, a former first-round draft pick who was traded by the team that drafted him, is just attempting to regain his confidence and find his footing.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin (right) talks with side judge Dave Hawkshaw throughout the first half of a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 17 in Pittsburgh.

Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo

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In his 18th season as Steelers coach, Tomlin can have a best-case scenario for an impressive season. Not only do the Steelers have their typically stellar defense, but additionally they have a starting quarterback for the primary time in years. They have two talented, highly motivated quarterbacks in Wilson and Fields.

Wilson’s presence in Pittsburgh is just not only about finding a superb landing spot, but in addition about restoring dignity. He was well on his method to a Hall of Fame profession in Seattle, where he led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title and got here inside a goal-line interception of second place. He was traded from Seattle to Denver. During his second season with the team, he encountered coach Sean Payton, who didn’t want him and made his presence known. Wilson was unceremoniously kicked out of Denver. Many can have a long-lasting image of Wilson because the quarterback standing on the sidelines and being chewed out by Payton.

In Fields, the Steelers have a young, talented quarterback with an incredible ceiling. Fields was chosen in the primary round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He set a regular-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback and even became the third NFL quarterback to record 1,000 rushing yards in a season. But Fields became a stepchild in Chicago. He was not appointed by the brand new regime, was consistently criticized and reported to quite a few offensive coordinators. After three seasons with the Bears, Fields was traded to the Steelers in 2024.

Wilson is in search of rejuvenation, Fields is in search of redemption. Perhaps they will still find each in Pittsburgh.

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Tomlin and the Steelers have great quarterback insurance. If any of the remaining NFL teams lose their starting quarterback, their chances are high essentially over.

If the 35-year-old Wilson goes down with an injury, the Steelers will still have Fields, who began the regular season with Wilson suffering a calf injury. Fields led Pittsburgh to a 4-2 record and received generally positive reviews.

Then he learned a very important lesson. After Fields led the Steelers to an encouraging start, Tomlin announced that Wilson could be the starter in Week 7 against the New York Jets. It’s not that Fields played poorly. Tomlin said Fields has been “really good” in his six starts. But, Tomlin added, “that shouldn’t be confused with great.”

Fields disagreed.

“I mean, I don’t think I played well enough, to be honest with you,” he told reporters before returning to the bench.

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“If I’m honest with myself, I believe if I played well enough, I do not think there could be any query about who should play and who shouldn’t. In the tip we got some wins, I’m completely satisfied with that, but there are areas where I can improve, so I’ll just keep working on them and keep improving.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields throws an interception after running for yardage in the second half against the Baltimore Ravens in the second half of the sport, Nov. 17 in Pittsburgh.

Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo

Fields is learning. It’s growing and it’s definitely in the Steelers’ plans. With the sport hanging in the balance on Sunday against Baltimore, Fields was a part of a package designed to reap the benefits of his versatility.

On Pittsburgh’s first drive of the third quarter, with Pittsburgh holding a 9-7 lead, Fields entered the play and ran for eight yards. Two plays later, the Steelers kicked a field goal to increase the result in 12-7. In the Ravens’ final fourth quarter, Fields got here in for second down and easily ran across the left side of the sector for a nine-yard rating. Fields could have scored the ten points he needed, but he slipped too early.

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Regardless, the Steelers gave their opponents another excuse to fret. It may not have been the role Fields envisioned, but he potentially plays the role of champion.

“We weren’t shy about our intentions,” Tomlin said after Sunday’s game. “He’s a talented guy and we’re going to use him. He’s really talented. I’m excited about both point guards we have on the roster. Both will be the reason we succeed and do.”

Before Sunday’s game against Baltimore, Tomlin was asked if having a talented quarterback with outstanding running skills like Fields helped the defense prepare for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Tomlin laughed.

“No,” he said.

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Tomlin admitted Sunday that Fields has indeed been very helpful. “He had an amazing week representing Mr. Jackson for us,” he said. “I’m glad he had the opportunity to contribute, have a hand in it and be a part of why we’ve been successful.”

In the approaching weeks, the Steelers will face quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, and, in fact, Jackson again. Pitches will play a very important role in practice and will likely play a bigger role during games.

“I believe Justin Fields is the franchise quarterback,” Wilson said after Sunday’s game. “He’s a great player, a great teammate, he works hard.”

Tomlin explained that the rationale there hasn’t been friction in the quarterback room between Fields and Wilson is less in regards to the coach and more in regards to the players. “They are really good people, they support each other,” he said.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks Russell Wilson (right) and Justin Fields (left) sit together on the bench throughout the second half of a game against the New York Jets in Pittsburgh on October 20.

Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo

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There is respect between these three distinguished African Americans. In 2009, when Tomlin became the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl, Wilson was 20 years old. Fields was 10 years old.

When Wilson won the Super Bowl championship with Seattle in 2013, Fields was 14 years old. They grew up in the sport, admiring one another. Now everyone seems to be here and working to attain something special.

“It’s about us being together,” Wilson said Sunday. “We do it and we have fun doing it.”

There continues to be plenty of football to be played. Pittsburgh has six games remaining and will face the Ravens again on December 21 in Baltimore. They also must play Philadelphia and the Kansas City Chiefs.

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When a reporter asked Tomlin to place Wilson’s season in perspective, Tomlin, in his wisdom, said it was far too early.

“To be honest with you, I think he’s still writing that story,” Tomlin said.

But he knew why he wanted Wilson to be the Steelers’ starter.

“There were a lot of reasons why I took this attitude,” he said. “His resume is a component of it, his experience, and I assumed his experience could possibly be an asset to our unit and our team, and it has proven to be true. His talents, his appetite for large moments and I believe it paid off a bit.

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“There are a myriad of reasons and I think that will continue to be revealed because of the circumstances that he and we will be in. I’m excited about the prospect of tackling these things with him, and I’m excited about him, quite honestly, getting better. Sometimes you see guys who have been around as long as him or have the same resume as him, they’re kind of immune to new things and criticism and things like that – paths that make men better – and he’s not immune to any of that stuff and that makes it cool too.”

I’m undecided how much any fan can take from the Steelers’ victory over the Ravens on Sunday. It was a brutal, emotional game that can be repeated next month in Baltimore.

One thing I do know needless to say: For Tomlin, Wilson and Fields, the convergence of championship aspirations is hotter than ever.

William C. Rhoden is a columnist for Andscape magazine and the writer of Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete. He directs Rhoden Fellows, a training program for aspiring HBCU journalists.

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Jalen Milroe can follow the Jalen path in NFL

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Star Black playmakers aren’t any longer an exception – they’re the rule. Throughout the entire football season, this series will discover the importance and influence of black QB from bottom -up to NFL.


Indianapolis-keep me, should you heard it earlier: playmaker Alabama born in Texas, who’s a stronger runner than a passerby, will probably be called outside the first round of the NFL Draft.

The playmaker was undefeated in Sec as a primary -year starter.

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The playmaker never played for the same offensive coordinator.

The name of the playmaker is even Jalen.

But it isn’t clear that Jalen hurts. This winter he was busy winning the Super Bowl MVP, and he didn’t play Iron Bowl or against Michigan.

Instead, it’s a former playmaker of Crimson Tide Jalen Milroewho last week Combine Combine tried to convey the case to the trainers and evaluators that he – like his namesake – is price being their playmaker franchise in the future despite questions on his ability.

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“I went through adversity. I saw everything as a quarterback, “Milroe said on Friday. “I played at the most difficult conference in the country. It would be easier to play at other conferences, but what I could see in Sec catapulted me that I was ready to play NFL. “

Alabama, Jalen Milroe, talks to the media during the NFL mix at the Lucas Oil stadium on February 28 at Indianapolis.

Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Departing from Katy in Texas, she originally got involved in Texas in 2019, but a 12 months later she fell to Alabama. After he was sitting behind the Crimson Tide Starter Bryung for 2 seasons, Milroe took his reins in the 2023 season. He helped Alabama survive Sec (8-0) this 12 months, won by the conference rival and two-time defender Georgia in the SEC championship, which caused Crimson Tide to the play-off collection.

But while Milroe had a big arm (his 10 yards for the test took third place in Sec in 2023), the pass was not his strong suit. For two seasons as a starter Milroe never achieved 3000 yards in one season, the first starter of Alabama, who did it because it … hurts.

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Hurts, from Houston, led Crimson Tide to the National National Championships in 2016–17, but during these two seasons were lower than 5,000 yards. While Hurts was a singular Rusher (1,809 yards and 21 sticks) at the moment, his weakness as a passerby is known for led to the spare Tua Tavailoa during the break of the national championships in 2017.

In the mix, Milroe decided that despite his pedestrian passes, he was still worthy of being a start at NFL.

He is aware of his weaknesses and swore that he worked in the ass to enhance outside being “one dimension.” He could move when his legendary trainer, Nick Saban, retired after the 2023 season, but decided to not fall off. He traveled six miles a day to ensure that that something was left in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter. He studied progression and reads after I-SNAP to lift his IQ in football.

Unlike the forecast sorts of the first round, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, Milroe threw a mix on Saturday, hoping that he would show the bands that he has mechanics to do that to the playmaker NFL. It turned out to be a mixed bag. Milroe showed strong arm strength and a very good location of sail routes, curls and it while throwing exercises, but fought accuracy on intermediate and on the routes.

“That’s so many things that I can learn more where I am today and where I will be when it comes to day 1, starting with NFL,” said Milroe before Saturday exercises. “Always be a game student, at all times attempt to develop, because it would be so many opportunities in which I can look back and say that it was the moment after I grew up as a playmaker.

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“That’s right now, I’m just trying to grow as much as possible, put my best foot forward and just look for development.”

Jalen Milroe warms up during seniors training at the Hancock Whitney stadium on January 29 at Mobile, Alabama.

Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images

Milroe was asked that he was one other playmaker in Alabama to succeed in the mix, following in the footsteps of the role (who moved to Oklahoma in 2019), Tavailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young. Milroe said he appreciates being in the company of others, but he added that it’s difficult to check him with others.

“We had different bands, we had different players around us, we had a different system,” he said.

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But when he specifically asked what he could study the journey of Hurts-from the first manager of the game after the super Bowl-Milroe master said he inspired him his companion Alabam.

“The most important thing I learned from J. Hurts is how he kept his head (I) always continued to work,” said Milroe. “He at all times raised his game, he has never been self -deserved, and all the pieces you see is great progress from him.

“And I have to applaud him as a person, he as a man, because he is definitely inspiring for many playmakers of my image, as well as many playmakers throughout the country. He leads to all of us. “

The couple isn’t completely similar. Hurts had about 20 kilos on Milroe when he was in college. Milroe has a stronger arm, while Hurts played more and not using a mistake of football: Milroe threw 17 interceptions and ate 67 bags for 2 seasons as a starter in comparison with 10 captures Hurts and 43 bags.

But they can each be changing the game when their teams need them. In a highly publicized match against Georgia at the starting of the last season, Milroe finished almost 82% of his passes on 374 yards and two appointments, adding 117 yards to the ground for the next two results.

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Milroe can also match the wounds in the so -called “Jalen-ISMS. “

“Climbing upstairs is not easy, but when you reach the top of this mountain, you will learn so many things when it comes to adversity when it comes to difficulties, things along the way,” said Milroe in a mix.

Martenzie Johnson is an older author for Andcape. His favorite film moment is that Django said: “You all want to see something?”

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Like Tommie Smith and John Carlos from 1968. Black Power Salute inspired me to find my goal

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I’d say that I grew up within the household to be sure that that me and my siblings were aware of the black history. My parents invested in the gathering of black encyclopedias. On the duvet we had a version of the Bible with Black Jesus. Our house was stuffed with books of black novelists and thinkers, and if a black document appeared, we watched it. I watched all movies made on television about Dr. King, each “Roots” and “Alex Haley’s Queen” and I sat for all 14 hours “Eyes on the reward”-as a toddler. Bless my heart.

Having said this, there have been pockets of black history, and more likely that I had no opportunity to delve into once I was a toddler. The college was where all the will for information and understanding of the combined. I attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., One of a very powerful historically black universities within the country. It was there that I met people from around the globe whose knowledge about black history differed (often depending on the colleges and the communities by which we lived), but everyone had hunger to learn more.

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One day, through the first yr, I remember one among my friends in a T -shirt by which I had definitely seen before, but I never paid attention to. There was a black and white screen printing on the shirt (what I do know now) the enduring moment on the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, where on the rostrum for 200-meter medals, Tommie Smith, John Carlos (races 1. And 3. Place Finaners) Everyone gathered a black fist in gloves while he played “Star Spangled Banner”. Peter Norman, the second place from Australia, wore a human rights badge, like Smith and Carlos.

Not only did they raise the fist of black power (although they each said it was for human rights), they received medals in black socks to represent poverty within the black community, and Smith wore a black scarf for black pride. Carlos showed solidarity with blue-wheeled employees, unpacking the jacket and wore a necklace from the beads for individuals who were lynched. Due to the state of Black America in 1968 and a continuing struggle for equality and civil rights, there have been calls to a boycott of the Games. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also killed in April this yr – and all three athletes were inspired enough to find a way to do it on the rostrum, which led to one of the crucial durable images of public protest.

I remember how I learned history and realized that on the most important scene these brave men used their moment of triumph and victory to quietly protest against the conditions of underrated communities in America. I felt strengthened; We often discuss standing on the arms of giants, however the more I got into the history of black in America, the more I spotted what number of giants there have been. In college I used to be very bad and for a while ready to burn every part that represented the establishment or any obstacle to black liberation. I felt like all those individuals who even saw their space on the planet in reference to individuals who could never give you the option to speak as heroes whose lives were to be modeled later. Especially since it was also fastidiously that putting people in front of him can often bring an enormous personal loss.

When Smith and Carlos took their position, they were booed on the stadium and ordered to be sent home by the International Olympic Committee. The athletes returned home, but they weren’t welcomed by the hero, but as a substitute of rough sleds, and even in some cases the specter of death. They were also not beloved by athletes. Two men, associated eternally in history, even have a good relationship –Carlos even claims that he let Smith go within the race Because “Tommie Smith would never put his fist in the sky if I won this race,” the claim that Smith denies.

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History ultimately has a way of rights, but it surely took a few years and realizations on the front of social policy, in order that the actions of those persons are perceived as brave and needed, not only selfish and smug.

The lessons that I learned from College and continuous reading and education I gained (my head remained within the book about black history) were one among the best advantages in HBCU. The very variety of books I learned about about which I actually have never heard of – I actually have upheld me all my life.

That is why I remember sooner or later I used to be walking around Washington, the eastern Washington market and a street seller was selling different photos of moments in black history, and he had a 40 -inch photo within the Tommie Smith and John Carlos frame. I paid for it in money and spent it across the capital of the country until I returned home. I do know that it happened in 2005 (I finished Morehouse College in 2001) because I just moved to my first apartment with no roommate and it was the very first thing that I actually have ever suspended on the wall. This picture within the frame still hangs on the wall in my home in 2025 and I used it to teach my children about sacrifice and privilege and how you may have to discuss individuals who cannot.

Teenage students of Stax Music Academy Mark 25th anniversary, black history month with a concert

The query that my youngest children often ask: “How do I know who can’t speak for herself?” Which is an incredible query. For this I answered an easy fact, pointing to the photo:

“These men have made a gesture that gave people whose most of us, including them, would never see or never know them, but on which life negatively affects the alternatives of the wealthy and the federal government. Sometimes you may have to take this chance to say something because you do not know in the event you’ll ever have such a big platform.

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Son, there may be at all times someone who cannot speak for himself, and you may have to use it in a voice, because perhaps the thing you say or a stand that can help someone you understand, live a greater life. ”

I take advantage of words that may understand a little bit higher, but I can inform you that my children have a look at this photo on a regular basis, and once one among my sons said: “These guys are heroes, right?”

I say yes, they’re. They are the heroes of the Black History.

They will live eternally for speaking, and even quietly, in solidarity with those that couldn’t.

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Main Treasury Official Morgan State University, Sterling Steward, died

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Morgan State University, Sterling Steward


Morgan State University announced that his older associate athletics director and tax director, Sterling Steward, died.

No reason for death was disclosed, but the college has confirmed his contribution since he was employed in December 2022.

Steward died on February 26. In Morgan State he was accountable for the event of university programs, supporting partnerships and strengthening the financial and operational success of the Faculty.

“Sterling was more than a colleague-he was a respected leader, mentor and friend,” said in a written statement by Den Freeman-Patton, vice chairman and director of inter-university athletes. “His passion for athletics and commitment to raising Morgan programs were visible in everything he did. He worked tirelessly to ensure that our sports students had resources and the possibilities of distinction, and its impact will be felt for many years. We expand our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, especially his three sons and sister when we mourn this huge loss. “

While the steward worked in Morgan, strategic growth and cooperation occurred. His work with the institutional development department helped to offer more opportunities and created lasting relationships to support sports programs.

Steward earlier he worked At the University of New Orleans (UNO) as an assistant to the college athletics director for strategic income generation. He also made stays on the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Savannah State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Alabama State University, Kentucky State University, Eastern Oregon University and Xavier University in various roles, including for a senior consultant athletics director and sports director.

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He was from New Orleans, who received the title of bachelor and master’s degree on the University of Southern Mississippi. He won a bachelor’s degree in the sphere of coaching and administration/history of sport and his master’s degree in the sphere of sport management.

(Tagstransate) Morgan State Universiry

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