Jason Burgos
A new NFL Players Association survey revealed some surprising results on opinions from Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers players. And it seems that neither locker room are fans of the men who own the teams they play for.
The Buccaneers and Steelers are in similar positions heading into the offseason. Both had good showings in the 2023 season and were able to reach the playoffs in their respective conferences. While they both came up well short of their goals to reach the Super Bowl, they each have rosters with upside and potential.
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However, it seems that the two locker rooms have something else in common. Dissatisfaction with their owners. On Wednesday, the NFL Players Association released the results of their annual player survey that gets the thoughts of players from around the league on their current work environment. As many as 1,706 took part and the results from Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers players were very mixed.
Both Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers players hate the current travel accommodations of their teams
The survey asks athletes to grade the franchise in 11 different categories, including treatment of families, training staff, team travel, head coach, and ownership. When it comes to the treatment of family at the team facilities, both locker rooms’ overall average was an F for the two franchises.
| Category | Grade (Steelers/Buccaneers) | Rank out of 32 (Steelers/Buccaneers) |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment of Families | F-/ F | 29th/28th |
| Food/Cafeteria | B-/ C- | 16th/24th |
| Nutritionist/Dietician | D/ B | 30th/17th |
| Locker Room | F/ C- | 30th/22nd |
| Training Room | D+/ B- | 29th/15th |
| Training Staff | C/ B | 28th/14th |
| Weight Room | C/ B | 24th/17th |
| Strength Coaches | B+/ A- | 20th/11th |
| Team Travel | D/ F | 28th/32nd |
| Head Coach | A/ B- | 5th/26th |
| Ownership | F/ D- | 31st/29th |
The Steelers players were much more unsatisfied with their locker rooms (F) than the Bucs (C-) but graded the travel accommodations of their team a little bit better (D) compared to their contemporaries in Tampa Bay (F).
However, one area they were very similar was in their admiration for their coaches. Pittsburgh players gave long-time head coach Mike Tomlin an A while Tampa head coach Todd Bowles received a B- minus. Both locker rooms also had no love for their owners with the Rooney family receiving an F for their job leading the Steelers and Joel Glazer getting a D- minus for his work providing the facilities for the Buccaneers.
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