Tomlin went too far with punishment

By Bob Smizik
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Friday, August 08, 2008

Under the watchful eye of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin Casey Hampton goes through his morning workout yesterday.

Casey Hampton, the famously overweight nose tackle, has become a seldom-seen sideshow at Steelers training camp. Hampton is an alternative attraction for a few of the fans who make the pilgrimage to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for afternoon practices.

Wednesday, for example, while the vast majority of the some 5,000 fans who attended had eyes only on the main field where all but one of the healthy Steelers practiced, a couple of dozen or so, by design or happenstance, wandered over to the far field where Hampton was doing punishment drills.

He was friendly and engaging to the fans who worked up the nerve to speak with him.

A woman approached him with a camera. When he nodded in the affirmative, the woman's husband placed himself next to Hampton and the wife snapped the picture. As they walked away, the man was telling the woman, "He was the starting nose tackle ..."

He gave a friendly wave to a young boy in a Ben Roethlisberger jersey, and to a man who posed a question as to why he was off by himself, Hampton answered, "Ain't no heavier than I ever came to camp."

And that is all the testimony necessary to prove that after 11 days of banishment, Hampton still doesn't get it. He has not fully grasped that in Mike Tomlin's second year as coach of the Steelers there are new rules in place. Bill Cowher kind of winked at Hampton's excesses, which may not have been wrong. Cowher's record as a coach speaks for itself.

Tomlin let a year slide by, but only one. He took over a team one year removed from winning the Super Bowl. He was willing to move slowly.
Now he has sped up the process. Hampton was told before camp he was expected to report at a specific weight. He didn't come close. One report had him at 40 pounds overweight, which would have put the scale closer to 400 pounds than 350.

With that, Tomlin placed Hampton on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, which means Hampton can't participate in practices and isn't counted on the active roster. Good thing PUP doesn't stand for "punished until penitent." If that were the case, Hampton might never return to the team.

When Tomlin was asked at his news conference in advance of the game tonight against the Philadelphia Eagles if Hampton was making progress, he said, "The process is running its course. He is closer to being ready to contribute. We'll continue to monitor it. That doesn't mean he'll be participating [tonight]."

When Tomlin announced his disciplining of Hampton, it was met with much approval from the public. Everyone loves when a coach stands up for what's right, particularly when he's willing to challenge an established veteran.

The media, too, nodded in approval although in a somewhat different manner: Cowher, the thinking went, never would have done this.
That's right, Cowher never would have punished a decorated veteran contributor. But, in condemning Cowher for such an attitude, everyone is ignoring his record. He was enormously successful doing it his way. He has built a likely Hall-of-Fame career by being a players' coach. Cowher knew how to handle players. It was his strength.

So, if Cowher would not have punished Hampton, maybe Hampton didn't deserve the level of punishment Tomlin delivered.

Tomlin hasn't just disciplined Hampton, he has publicly humiliated him. Hampton is the poster boy for fat football players. He's going to be dogged by this story all year. When Hampton gets on the field, get set for a lot of profile shots of the belly.

The players have publicly voiced approval of Tomlin's tactics. What else are they going to say? No one is going to challenge the coach. But, in the back of their minds, they might not like this. Remember, most of the veterans came up under Cowher. They're not used to such punishment.

We're not suggesting Hampton didn't deserve to be punished. He did. He let down his teammates and coaches by reporting overweight. We are suggesting that Tomlin might have been a bit more discreet in his discipline.

Was it necessary to go public and single him out in such a manner? In doing so, Tomlin caused a distraction, and they are never good for a football team.

How this turns out will depend on if the message finally gets through to Hampton. If he returns to the team understanding what was done was for the best, all may be well and good. But, if he harbors a grudge, this distraction could turn ugly.

Tomlin was right to draw a line in the sand with Hampton. But maybe he didn't have to draw it so deeply.

Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.
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First published on August 8, 2008 at 12:00 am