Steelers’ Diontae Johnson gives questionable apology for effort at Bengals
The past 7-10 days have been forgettable for Steelers Pro Bowl WR Diontae Johnson. First came the report that he and star safety Minkah Fitzapatrick got into an altercation that called for teammates to step in. Then came an inexcusable display of effort followed by some comments that only made matters worse. Well Johnson had […]
The past 7-10 days have been forgettable for Steelers Pro Bowl WR Diontae Johnson.
First came the report that he and star safety Minkah Fitzapatrick got into an altercation that called for teammates to step in. Then came an inexcusable display of effort followed by some comments that only made matters worse.
Well Johnson had a chance to correct all of that on Wednesday. He said the right things, but you be the judge of the sincerity in his sentiments:
"That's Not Me As a Player"
“I addressed the situation to my teammates,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “They know how I feel and how I should go about the situation next time it occurs or whatever. I owned up to it. I’m not perfect. All I can do is just move forward and just keep playing football. That’s all I’m worried about…
"…That’s not me as a player, one play doesn’t define me. Never will. I didn’t come up playing football like that, so obviously it looks bad on film. From here on out going forward just be smart and play until the whistle blows…
"…I feel like I did the right thing by standing up in front of the team and owning up to my mistake. All I can do is just move forward.”
Now you could see this statement coming from a mile away when Coach Tomlin publicly addressed the issue during his weekly press conference.
It's obvious that Tomlin and the higher-ups told Johnson he needed to publicity apologize to both the media and his teammates.
And to be honest, even as someone who is a big Johnson supporter, it felt like that kind of apology…
A forced one.
But hopefully I'm wrong. Maybe Johnson knows that he messed up and will keep his word for the rest of the season.
But it's a good thing the Steelers won that game and have a strong chance of doubling their amount of wins to losses on Sunday, because I don't even want to imagine how Johnson and others would act if the season went awry.
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