At least Tomlin never walked on media

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stormed out of a news conference, angered by rumors swirling around the South Side that he missed one of USC safety Taylor Mays’ practices during last month’s Senior Bowl to grab a bite to eat.

”I was hungry because I missed breakfast,” Tomlin snapped at reporters. ”You wanna know what I had for lunch? I tried the crab cakes, but they gave me heartburn.”

Imagine the reaction around town if sports imitated life and Tomlin really had pulled a Mayor Luke Ravenstahl when the line of questioning became heated during the 2009 NFL season, as the fictitious scenario above highlights.

Ravenstahl walked out of his news conference last week when reporters wanted to know his whereabouts. At issue was whether the mayor was needed to sign paperwork that would extend the emergency he declared as a result of the snowstorm earlier this month. Rumors had him in New Orleans celebrating Mardi Gras, a week after leaving the city prior to the storm to celebrate his birthday at Seven Springs.

Public Safety director Michael Huss ended up signing the extension of the declaration. When reporters pressed Ravenstahl on his whereabouts, the mayor left miffed.

Contrast this with Tomlin’s relationship with the media. During the Steelers’ recently completed 9-7 campaign, Tomlin, having ample opportunity to blow his stack with certain reporters, always treated members of the press with civility and a minimum of sarcasm.

The Steelers’ endured a five-game losing streak, with Tomlin bearing a large brunt of the criticism.

Through all the tough questions, Tomlin, whose weekly news conferences are televised live, put on a happy face and never allowed any anger he may have been feeling to surface.

For the final question of his final news conference of the season, Tomlin was asked to describe his level of accountability as the Steelers missed the playoffs a year after winning Super Bowl XLIII.

”I accept responsibility for everything that’s on tape,” said Tomlin, who stuck around for the end of his news conference.

I understand the mayor of Pittsburgh’s responsibilities are a lot more serious than those of the coach of the Steelers. Some, however, would suggest that Tomlin has a much higher profile than Ravenstahl does.

Mind you, I’m not trying to equate the importance of a football coach with that of a politician. But the two positions have a lot more in common than you might think, according to public relations expert Alan Caruba.

”Both jobs come with widely understood responsibilities,” said Caruba, the New Jersey-based professional whose clients have included leading corporations and trade associations. ”Public figures are called public figures because the public expects them to respond to reasonable questions. As a public servant, particularly as the mayor of Pittsburgh, he does, in fact, need to be available and accessible, particularly in the case of a blizzard.

”Obviously, the mayor failed to do that. Walking out of a news conference is always an extremely bad idea.”

Frankly, I was amazed at how well Tomlin contained his anger toward the local media in 2009. It was the first time in his three seasons with the Steelers that Tomlin was subjected to close media scrutiny for losing games; reporters were curious to see how he would handle the negative publicity.

Tomlin is a master at not answering a question to a reporter’s satisfaction, but he’s never walked out of a news conference because he didn’t like a question.

NFL coaches are paid to take the blame. They understand that in the court of public opinion, players win games but coaches lose them.

Caruba said he would advise Ravenstahl to conduct another news conference to apologize for walking out and ”try to put matters straight again” with local residents.

”That’s how the game is played in sports, politics and the world of business. If the man at the top cannot accept responsibility, there’s a strong likelihood he will be replaced at some point,” Caruba said.

”When the mayor is not in town, it’s almost like the coach being missing from the sideline. It’s as if they played a game and the coach didn’t show up. The good news is the mayor is not the coach of a Pittsburgh sports team, because he probably wouldn’t last very long.”

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