Mark Madden's Hot Take: Steelers preferred culture has returned

As the Pittsburgh Steelers go into the regular season with hype falling just shy of ESPN’s Mike Greenberg’s unbridled, frothing lust over the Aaron Rodgers era in New York, a happy coincidence has occurred: The Steelers are free of jerks. The preferred culture is back.

Perhaps it’s not coincidence.

Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown are just unpleasant memories. Unless you’re trying to track somebody down for a celebrity fight or child support. The former doesn’t provide much celebrity. The latter isn’t likely to pay.

Bell and Brown were great players. But their selfishness made it impossible to win. (Brown’s ring gained via tagging along in Tampa Bay doesn’t count. He’s probably hocked it by now.)

JuJu Smith-Schuster and his lovable brand of me-first egomania have skedaddled, his social-media antics since tempered by Andy Reid in Kansas City. (They’re not likely to make a comeback under Bill Belichick in New England.)

Chase Claypool, a more miserable and less productive version of Smith-Schuster, went to Chicago. Joey Porter Jr. was the return. That provided gain in talent and attitude.

Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t a jerk. But as his Hall of Fame career wound down, he needed to be super-served more and more.

The Steelers bank on culture. But Brown running roughshod on Coach T’s watch skewed the locker room to an extent that things felt wonky even after Brown left. Smith-Schuster and Claypool were Brown’s less manic descendants. (Lesser players, too.)

It was like high school: The troublemakers were the cool kids. The valedictorians weren’t.

But no more. Glue guys have arrived: Patrick Peterson, Allen Robinson II and Isaac Seumalo. Kenny Pickett seems like a real leader in just his second year.

The Steelers feel more like the Steelers. They’re just plain old football players, not docudramas. They might even be likeable.

How likeable? That depends on how much they win. Duh.