Mike Wallace Has Been Asking For Fan Backlash

Mike Wallace Is In SteelerNation's
Doghouse, but He Can Get Out...

If you were watching the Steelers play the Chargers this Sunday you heard the 60,000 people booing when Mike Wallace dropped a very catchable deep ball midway through the first half.  Jim Nantz poetically moved on, but did mention that the Steelers faithful was letting Mike Wallace know their dislike for him dropping the pass.  Phil Simms tried to idiotically blame it on Roethlisberger not throwing the ball towards the middle of the field instead of RIGHT INTO HIS HANDS like he did.  I grew up playing football and the rule that my father always told me was this "If it hit your hands you should have caught the football".  With all of this being said, the Steelers fans booing Mike Wallace goes well beyond a dropped pass in the middle of a game that was on the verge of getting out of hand. 

The speedy WR from Ole Miss was a true Pittsburgh Steeler a year ago...being a deep threat that the Steelers haven't seen since Swann and Stallworth roamed Three Rivers Stadium.  After all, who doesn't love the big play down the field?  I can honestly say that in all of my years watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and following the football team I have yet to see a player fall from grace as fast as Wallace has.  The only other player that might come close is Kordell Stewart, but Mike Wallace has been asking for this for a while now.  It all started when Wallace decided that he was going to skip training camp.  Mike Tomlin was visibly angry about his #1 WR not showing up the entire training camp (especially when learning a new offense).  The organization was visibly angry with Wallace, and showed their disgust by giving a contract extension to Antonio Brown.  Nonetheless, Wallace showed up at the team's training facility once camp broke and everything seemed to be peachy....that was until the regular season started. 

Wallace started off hot this season posting some very solid numbers in the first few games of the season; however, the luster of the young season wore off quickly in a Sunday Night game in Cincinnati where Wallace had several dropped passes (I believe he was credited with 5).  The drops continued, and suddenly on top of his poor performances his effort and desire was being questioned by the fan base and the local media.  Unable to avoid media, he was forced to answer questions about why his numbers have dipped and why his effort was being questioned.  Mike Wallace responded with it being a "lack of concentration" that was causing his drops and missed opportunities.  He blamed the offense for spreading the ball around too much, decreasing his targets.  The fan backlash came to a head on Sunday at Heinz Field when Wallace missed that pass that I spoke of earlier in this article. 

In my opinion, Mike Wallace has been asking for this because of where he plays more than anything.  If you grew up around Pittsburgh, or have followed the team for any length of time you know that the fans are as rabid as ever when it comes to the Steelers.  They want "their" team to play hard and to win.  When winning doesn't happen, they want answers, and a "lack of concentration" is not an acceptable answer to SteelerNation.  The Steelers fans love the players who show up to work, just like they do, and work their tails off in order to give the fans another Lombardi trophy.  When that hard work and dedication isn't perceived to be reciprocated, the Steelers fans have an issue with you.  There is a silver lining to SteelerNation.  They are fickle bunch, but they also have a very short term memory.  If Mike Wallace just keeps his mouth shut and starts producing all will be forgiven...trust me.