Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images T.J. Watt and his Steelers' teammates will be holding training camp at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex in Pittsburgh.
It’s official. For the first time in more than a half-century, the Pittsburgh Steelers will not be holding training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.
The Steelers made the announcement earlier today in a statement from team president Art Rooney II. The statement read, in part: “We are disappointed for our fans and the city of Latrobe that we will not be able to hold our annual training camp at Saint Vincent College in 2020….” The statement goes on to note that the team plans to return to Latrobe in advance of the 2021 season.
The announcement comes in the wake of a directive issued yesterday by the NFL. Per multiple reports, the NFL told all of its teams that they are required to utilize their own facilities for training camp this summer.
And so the NFL has told all its teams that they must stay at their team facilities for this summer’s training camps.
Gerry Dulac on the Steelers Staying in Pittsburgh for Training Camp
This isn’t to say that everyone in the organization believes it’s preferable to conduct training camp within city limits.
During an appearance on the DVE Morning Show earlier today, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, “There were people in the organization who thought that they could control, if you will, the environment better at Saint Vincent, where everybody is in one place.”
Yet Dulac went on to say: “I don’t think it was even going to come to that because to me there was no way the college was going to house 90 players, 20-some coaches, 20-some scouts, staff, personnel and media in their dormitories when they weren’t even sure how they were going to open in the fall. So to me, I thought even from the college’s standpoint there was no way they would be able to set aside their campus for three or four weeks, maybe even five, for the Steelers.”
This will be the first year since 1966 that the Steelers will not be at Saint Vincent College for training camp.
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T.J. Watt’s Eloquent Tweet on the Problem of Police Brutality
Meanwhile, NFL Twitter has been abuzz today in the wake of controversial comments by New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees on the subject of national anthem protests.
In the midst of all the upset, an impactful tweet posted by T.J. Watt is likely to remain overlooked.
But it’s worth highlighting what Watt had to say, his words coming on the heels of Cam Heyward’s thoughts about the George Floyd situation. Certainly, Watt’s tweet is going to make Art Rooney (even more) proud.
“What George Floyd went through was absolutely disgusting, hateful, and unacceptable,” Watt wrote.
“It is clear that there is a problem, and we need to find a solution,” he continued, before delivering the most impactful part of his statement. “I don’t have that solution, but I hope to somehow be a part of it [emphasis added]. Nobody should live in fear because of the color of their skin. Nobody.”
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Art Rooney II: Steelers’ Training Camp Will Return to Saint Vincent College in 2021