After the Steelers clinched the AFC North with Sunday’s win over the Colts, players from the team posted videos from the celebration in the locker room on social media.
Wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ray-Ray McCloud each shared videos of players dancing that showed many of them not wearing masks as mandated by the league’s COVID-19 protocols. The Saints were fined and stripped of a draft pick earlier this season after similar videos went viral, although the severity of the penalty was influenced by previous COVID-19 violations.
During his Tuesday press conference, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that he has not spoken to the league about the matter but that the NFL has been contact with the organization.
“It is something that we are going to address with out group,” Tomlin said. “Obviously, emotions were what they were in terms of being divisional champs, but we are in a global pandemic. We take that very seriously. We have to control our emotions. It is a continual education process in terms of making sure that our guys understand how important it is that we adhere to the protocols of the pandemic. That being said, sometimes the education is punitive in nature and that’s just the reality of it.”
Tomlin said they would keep any discipline in house and said the team will continue to “work our tails off” to make sure the team is adhering to all the guidelines that are in place.
