I love Ike Taylor. And he loves being a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. At least, that’s the impression I get. If he should leave after this season and continue his career elsewhere, I get the feeling it’ll be like James Harrison’s ill-fated stay with the Bengals last year. While Deebo said all the right things and even tried to stoke a fire over the Steelers releasing him, it was clear his heart always belonged with the Black and Gold.
Shoeless Ike has long been a polarizing figure amongst Steeler Nation. In his prime, he was considered by most to be one of the better corners in the league but his legendary stone hands led many fans to dismiss him as a mediocre talent. Plus, corner is one of those positions – like offensive coordinator – where fans seem to only remember your last most recent performance. Call a good game or hold an elite receiver to three catches and you’re great, make bad calls or get burned for a TD and you’re an overrated bum.
After watching Cortez Allen‘s laughable attempts at pass coverage, I hope everybody now realizes just how good Ike really was. Hell, even with diminished skills and a broken arm I’d still play him over the Worst Cornerback in Football.
Anyway, I try to provide original content here on TotesStillers but every once in awhile something comes along that is so freakin’ awesome it’s impossible to pass up. Such a thing happened this morning while I was perusing the current NFL news over at ProFootballTalk. Mike Florio conducted a Skype interview with the Swaggin’ one and words cannot describe how amazing it was.
It starts with Ike showing up shirtless – maybe instead of Shoeless Ike we should call him Shirtless Ike from now on? – then proceeds to get even more strange and wonderful from there.
Here are but a few choice quotes:
On whether he feared that gruesome arm injury would end his season:
“I feel like I’m a mutant.”
On being in the weight room throwing around big weights even on a “cool down” day
“We dont’ take days off. We might take a cat nap or somethin’.”
On his attitude towards rehab:
“A minor setback for a major comeback.”
and
“We’d rather be a week late than a week early.” (Have these doctors seen Allen play? Early is better!)
On whether the team knew Ben Roethlisberger was having a record setting day:
“You see #7 up there [on the scoreboard] killin’ everybody in fantasy points and we’re like what’s his stats like?”
So was Ike surprised by the offensive explosion?
“It’s a matter of time. He’s got a lot of weapons. When you got Cadillacs, you got Ferraris, you got Jeeps, you got dump trucks” (Not sure Le’Veon Bell would like being called a dump truck…)
On whether the team pays attention to all the criticism *cough* it got during the shaky start:
“We hold ourself accountable. You made the play or you didn’t make the play. You made a good call or you didn’t make a good call.”
And then to end the interview, Ike showed off his crazy abs and called himself “the black Bruce Lee.” In summation, I love Ike Taylor. Not only do I hope he gets back soon, I hope he never ever leaves.
Watch the entire interview here: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/29/ike-taylor-mum-on-potential-return-but-not-on-much-else/