Al Bellow/Getty Images Maurkice Pouncey of the Pittsburgh Steelers leaves a 2019 game against the New York Jets with a left knee injury.
Last week New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley and teammate Sterling Shepard didn’t rule out the possibility of the Giants refusing to play a regular season game, this in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. A move like that could directly affect the Steelers, who are scheduled to open the regular season against the Giants on Monday September 14.
Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey doesn’t envision his teammates considering anything of the sort. Via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pouncey said: “Football is the main objective in our lives. We can’t ever forget the simple fact that football is a game, and there are people having real issues. Sitting out a game would be hard to say in my eyes.”
That fits with what we’ve seen from the Steelers so far. While more than a handful of NFL teams canceled practice on Thursday August 27 after the Blake shooting, the Steelers were not among them. Instead Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin went on to try to explain the decision, saying, “We desire to have an impact, more so than statements.”
But the next night Tomlin went on to make a big statement on behalf of the organization, telling Steelers Nation and the rest of the general public that the organization “stands with” those who are hurting. While Tomlin spoke the team stood together arm-in-arm, and afterwards the team kneeled in prayer, led by tight end Vance McDonald.
Maurkice Pouncey Makes His Stance ‘Obvious’
At the same media engagement, Pouncey didn’t hesitate to highlight his ongoing support of the police. According to Rutter, Pouncey “works closely with the Pittsburgh police department, donating tickets for officers to take children from the city’s neighborhoods to home games. He also donated to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Fund last year as part of the team’s social justice grant program.
“I think it’s kind of obvious what my stance is,” Pouncey said. “Obviously there are some bad apples in every organization. It’s hard to pinpoint and say every cop is bad. That truly is not the case. I work with a lot of them. I’m friends with a lot of them.”
He went on to express optimism that relations between the police and the public—and minority communities in particular—can improve.
“I know [this] is an issue we can clean up. Hopefully we can all get on board,” Pouncey concluded.
Pouncey’s Meniscus Tear
Meanwhile, on Wednesday Pouncey also express optimism that he made the right decision in opting to not have surgery to repair the meniscus tear that caused him to miss the season finale last season.
“I think it was a smarter decision for me to rehab it,” he said. “I had a lot of time to work and get strong in that area. I got lucky with the aspect of it not being a lingering issue. Hopefully it stays that way during the season. We’ll see how it turns out.”
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