Vince Williams

Steelers come to Mike Tomlin's defense in wake of Terry Bradshaw's criticism

Published Dec. 26, 2016 8:13 p.m. ET

Nunzio Ingrassia

Mike Tomlin is in the midst of his 10th year as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, having guided the franchise to seven playoff appearances – including this season – and a Super Bowl title in that span.

So when his players heard Steelers great Terry Bradshaw criticize Tomlin’s head-coaching abilities last week on “Speak For Yourself”, they were quick to defend the veteran coach.

"We weren't happy about it," guard David DeCastro told ESPN. "Hopefully it will fire us up the rest of the way."

Bradshaw hasn’t been too impressed with Tomlin’s coaching acumen, questioning his contributions to the team.

"I don't know what he does," Bradshaw said last week (You can hear his comments in the video below). "I don't think he is a great coach at all. His name never even pops in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL."

DeCastro wanted to know why a Steelers icon, who guided the franchise to four Super Bowl titles, would criticize Tomlin this way.

"I pulled up ESPN around 10 p.m. [Friday] and was like, 'What the hell is this?" DeCastro said. "I don't get what the motivation is. Is this to get your name out there more or something? What are you doing?"

Steelers linebacker Vince Williams took to Twitter to defend Tomlin while defensive tackle Daniel McCullers brushed off the comments.

"[Bradshaw] is entitled to his opinion," defensive tackle Daniel McCullers said. "We support our coach. He's gotten us ready."

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