The AFC North has been chosen for HBO’s inaugural edition of the late-season, division-wide, Hard Knocks show. The show will take viewers behind the scenes for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Baltimore Ravens as the teams compete against one another in what is considered by many to be the toughest division in football.
As part of the process, head coach Mike Tomlin was forced to wear a microphone during Sunday’s divisional clash against the Cincinnati Bengals. Although the Steelers secured the victory, Tomlin was not happy about the microphone and used vulgar language when instructing staff members to remove the mic, in a video making the rounds on social media.
After Tomlin told the staff member: “Get this [expletive] off me” as she removed the microphone, Steelers tackle Broderick Jones realized that his head coach was wearing the microphone for the entire game.
After Jones asked Tomlin about the microphone the head coach told his player: “Shut yo [expletive] up.”
Mike Tomlin was mic’d up during the game for Hard Knocks, but he absolutely didn’t want it on for his postgame locker room speech.
Broderick Jones was *shocked* Mike T was mic’d up. pic.twitter.com/pGhUd6r0UH
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 1, 2024
Fans reacted to the exchange on social media.
“LOLLLL the film for the Steelers will be beautiful,” one fan who is eagerly anticipating the show said on Twitter.
“I may complain about how Mike T handled his timeout at the end of the 1st half, but you gotta love him,” another fan added.
“MIke is a national treasure and a mans man. Protect him at all cost,” another fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see what other content we get thanks to Hard Knocks.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.