‘I Was Heated’: Arthur Maulet Calls Out Teammates Sideline Behavior
Arthur Maulet gave an impassioned speech in the locker room to teammates after their loss to the Buffalo Bills 38-3 on Sunday. He was upset at seeing some players smiling and laughing on the sidelines even after the Steelers were being pulverized by the Bills.
You’ve got to love this s***, bro,” Maulet said Sunday. “Real s***, you’re on the sideline and you’ve got guys that are laughing and smiling on the sidelines? We’ve got guys acting like they don’t give a f***. It’s 38-3 and people are laughing on the bench. You have to love this game to play this s***.”
On Thursday, Maulet spoke with the media for the first time since the incident on Sunday. His motivations seemed clear at the time, he followed it up with some even more in-depth reasoning on Thursday. It was largely due to the sideline behavior of his teammates, and in the moment, he was heated.
“I was heated,” Maulet said. “We lost by 30. You’re not supposed to be happy about that. I reminded guys to find your why, find why you love this game, and use that for your motivation.”
Maulet, who has been cut more times than he can count on one hand, has earned his journey to this point. He now is a key member of the secondary from the slot cornerback position. Maulet is not one to point fingers, but he felt something had to be said in order to get people to understand why it was not okay.
“Look, I’m not here to point fingers, but it’s just something I had to acknowledge,” Maulet said of the sideline behavior.
The tirade happened right in front of reporters. Arthur Maulet explained that he had a lot going on at the time, but he had to make it clear that it would not be acceptable moving forward. The fallout from it, however, is that Maulet’s position and the message was respected within the locker room.
“These guys, they understand,” Maulet said. “There were no arguments among anyone or anything like that.”
it will take more than just a speech from Maulet, but getting the stuff right on the sideline is what it takes first to get things moving. Pittsburgh needs to be laser-focused this week in order to pull off a shocking upset against the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers.