Steelers legend Hines Ward on what Mike Tomlin is ‘lacking’

It’ll be a dozen years next month since legendary Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward called it a career. And his former team remains without a Super Bowl since.

The “standard” of the Steelers was often brought into question during the 2023 season as it seemed the younger generation of players on the roster didn’t understand it, nor were they embodying it.

“The standard in Pittsburgh is all about winning Super Bowls,” Ward told The Schmo during Super Bowl week. “We’re very blessed. We won six Super Bowls in our organization.”

“… But we haven’t won in a while, so that’s the one thing that probably [Mike Tomlin is] lacking on his shelves of great accomplishments and bringing another Super Bowl back to the city of Pittsburgh.”

The Steelers found great success during Ward’s career, a span of seasons that were some of the team’s best since the 1970s. He played in three Super Bowls, helping Pittsburgh to two victories, one under Tomlin.

Nearing 52, Tomlin is one of the NFL’s most-winning coaches, but his Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016 and they last appeared in the Big Show in 2010.

Watching the Kansas City Chiefs and San Fransisco 49ers in Super Bowl 53 served as a painful reminder of just how far the Pittsburgh Steelers are from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

Tomlin’s last real chance for “bringing another Super Bowl back to the city of Pittsburgh” has likely come and gone.