Mike Tomlin is not a fan of how people are treating sports these days. The Pittsburgh Steelers head coach is referring to the betting and fantasy sports aspect that causes fans to look at players even lower than they did before, especially if they do not perform the way they want them to.
That is seemingly what happened to Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick last week when he intercepted Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota late in the fourth quarter.
Instead of scoring a touchdown, Fitzpatrick decided to run out of bounds and allow his offense to kneel out the clock on the next play. However, Fitzpatrick caught hell for that decision online from the people in the fantasy and betting communities, something head coach Mike Tomlin called “unfortunate.”
“It is ridiculous that we’re talking about something other than winning — whether or not you had the Steelers defense and the fantasy points that you lost. Or the gambling aspects of overs and unders,” Tomlin said on the Week 14 episode of The Mike Tomlin Show. “I just, on a personal note, I’m saddened often by the distractions that can become part of viewing and enjoying men competing at the highest level of the game that we all love by fantasy teams and over and under lines. It’s unfortunate at times, really.”
Some fans really needed that score for fantasy or betting purposes and Fitzpatrick got unfairly targeted for making the interception and doing the right thing for his team. It was also very unselfish for him to do so.
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“That guy displayed great situational awareness and playmaking and selflessness in that play, and he should be championed for that as opposed to questioned in some of the ways that I hear him being questioned unfortunately,” Tomlin said.
As for Fitzpatrick, he has four interceptions, a touchdown and 62 tackles. He also has eight pass deflections.
