* July 21, 1977: Jack Lambert decided not to report to training camp, because he was unhappy with the salary he was to be paid in the option year of the contract he originally signed in 1974 as a rookie from Kent State.

* July 28, 1977: Jack Lambert’s agent upped the ante a little bit, and this was the headline on the top of the sports page in the Pittsburgh Press: “Agent tells Rooney: Jack wants traded.”

Thanks for the news.

Sad to see the loss of such talent when the defense has been playing so well of late. Next man up!

I just love seeing stuff like this, just because typical Yinzers look at today's players and say, "They never did that back in the day.... blah, blah, blah"

It wasn't about money for this year but not too different to MB's play me or trade me words. No trade but I would assume MB more involved in the offence after the break.

Jack Lambert had been a part of 2 Super Bowl champion teams and was coming off of a DPOY campaign.
Martavis Bryant has never played more than 11 games in a season and is coming off of a year long drug suspension.

I didn't mind guys being vocal about contract demands or doing stuff like 'Dancing with the Stars' as long as they can back it up on the field. Bryant's career has been marred by one screw up after another. Its a very different situation - he needs to shut up and play.

Plus football players back in the 70's did not make nearly the amount of money players make today.
And I relate that in terms of average NFL salary compared to the average american salary then and now.
It is so much more disproportionate these days.

Those guys back then worked in the off season and drove to camp / practice / games in modest pick -up trucks ( Lambert )
Can't imagine what the players parking lots look like today with the lifestyle, salary, endorsements, etc of todays players.

Not to mention the salary Lambert was holding out for was likely 1/3 of the current NFL vet minimum or less. One of the most amusing things about my uncle's 70s Steelers Topps cards when I went through them a few years back was the offseason jobs that they all listed.

Also Jack Lambert is white!!!

Lol

Feel like that's probably about as far beside the point as it gets.

Oh no its not.....

Ummm yes it is.

Further, while some of us do skirt the rules around here with topics “not allowed” I think this constant race bating by you is not only childish but also against board rules.

Give it up and stop making reference to white or black players. Shit stinks no matter the asshole it came from. A player is a player and aside from maybe 1 person here, nobody injects race into their opinions when discussing players.

Pabst was spot on in his assessment of the difference between Lambert and MB and it had nothing to do with race.

This.

To clarify, I looked at the OP, and assumed we were making distinctions between players of different eras. I thought it was pretty obvious that the comparison between Lambert (1977) and Bryant (2017, coincidentally 40 years later) was temporal in nature, and not racial.

So, if you want to whine about the OP being anti-Millenial, I think you'd be all good.

I hate all the racial sh!t here including the comments about the unusual first names of players who all happen to be black which, of course, is just another back door racist comment. Meanwhile we live in a different world from Jack Lambert's era where everyone including the president can/will comment on twitter or instagram or anywhere immediately with little hesitation. Regardless, MB while making a few errors did go all out on the field & just pouted after the game. I'm hoping he'll be the key to outscoring the cheatriots in a playoff game & while I love JuJu, I have no clue how he outran his pursuers. The kid must be quicker than he looks.

Kay and Peele say HI

Just curious of you could provide us example of recent "white" player holdouts that were met with comparably less criticism than examples of "black" player holdouts.

I also put "black" and "white" in quotes because these are not accurate descriptive terms of the colors they refer to which are more tones of peach and brown. But those colors are too similar and the opposite colors of black and white force into us a sense of opposition and divisiveness for which those descriptors were intended.

Peach and brown sound too similar. Can't create an antagonistic atmosphere with them.

It's more of a star vs. non-star thing.

Fans, for some reason, pretty much only acknowledge the business side of things when it comes to FO decisions. That's why so many people turned so quickly on Bell, who otherwise had been a fan favorite to that point. And Bell was entirely within his rights to do everything he did and make the choices he made.

I seem to remember Hines Ward catching a lot of heat for holding out with 1-yr left on his deal. But even that situation was very different from Bryant's.

Personally, I think what this probably really boils down to is Bryant and his agent looking around at those guys on offense, and calculating 25-50% more targets for Bryant on another team yields a much bigger FA contract.

Wasn't there alot of support for Hines during his holdout? I remember a guy setting up a fund raising booth to raise money for his signing bonus. Anyway, that's beside the point....

A personal pet peeve is when fans feel a player owes the city/team some sort of loyalty discount. As if some kid from Texas or Georgia really gives a damn about being loyal to Pittsburgh (or wherever). And those same fans will demand that player be cut as soon as his production starts to drop. I don't blame any of these guys for trying to maximize their earnings wherever they can.....when its warranted. Bryant, regardless of how he's been utilized, has not produced this year when asked, and he is one screw up away from a lifetime ban. He already has a reputation of being a less than stellar teammate. It's not the time to be publicly venting.

Agreed. I think it comes down to people view playing for PIT as both a dream and a privilege....and if a player isn't willing to do it for peanuts then fuck him!!!! Even if you grew up in PIT and love the Steelers, you still need to grab as much money as you can.

But it's fair that a lot of people believe you should honor the contract that no one held a gun to your head to sign. That's why Ward was criticized (when he threatened to hold out in the final year of his deal). I think AB got some criticism, too, when he was chirping about outperforming a deal that was VERY generous at the time he signed it.

Bell, though, I didn't really get. Guy didn't want to sign the deal and didn't - exactly what people say when a guy should have done when he threatens to hold out or chirps about how "fair" his deal is. Although not a good example when it involves a deal 50% more than the next highest paid guy at your position.

You're not casting aspersions about the RON name test, are you?

RON name test doesn't see color

While I never really thought RON of truly being racist, he did say/type some things that could be taken as being racist & the RON name test was one.