Pittsburgh Steelers: Get Martavis Bryant out

Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Martavis Bryant has made it clear that he wants out of the city, and now he’s an enemy of the people because of it.

Pittsburgh is a loyal sports city. Fans who flock to the likes of Heinz Field eight times every season like to think of themselves as part of the driving force that makes a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers so great. Players such as Heath Miller and Hines Ward have earned the admiration and respect of the entire city not only for their performance on the field, but also the respect and character displayed back.

Steelers fans love almost all players that come through during their time in the organization, yet their remains a select group of players that leave an undesirable taste in the mouth that speaks their name.

Then, you have Martavis Bryant — a player fans have tried so hard to love.

A fourth round pick out of Clemson that possessed the physical traits to dominate poor defensive backs, Bryant was to be the perfect complement to Antonio Brown. In the small sample size we got of his career, he showed the Steelers miles of potential. Bryant’s catch and run to seal a victory against the Cardinals, circus-somersault catch against the Bengals in the AFC Wild Card game, and much more showed what he could be. However, the problem with Bryant is he only shows what he is capable of instead of realizing his potential.

So when reports originated last week of the wide receiver wanting out of Pittsburgh, most people were willing to forgive and forget the apparent trade requests. Despite the multiple reports by people within the organization, and despite the comments made by his girlfriend about wanting to leave, teammates flocked to his defense and practically everybody gave him a clean slate.

Yet, after an impressive win over division rival Cincinnati to take a two-game lead in the AFC North, trouble continued to brew for Bryant, who continued to be frustrated with his role despite the Steelers 5-2 start to the 2017 season. So frustrated, in fact, that he took to Instagram and replied to comments about his poor play the past few weeks, throwing teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster under the bus.

As the team gathered for mandatory meetings on Monday morning, it was reported by Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Bryant was absent, and was “sick” according to his agent, saying he was at the doctor. Bryant, who currently sits behind Brown as the No. 2 receiver in targets for the Steelers, has struggled tremendously since his return to the field following a year-long suspension in 2016.

There’s no questioning whether or not Bryant wants out of Pittsburgh. His actions speak louder than words, although his words were pointed. So a piece of advice to the wideout, from not only everybody in the city of limits of Pittsburgh, but everybody who follows the Steelers across the world: Go. If Bryant want out this badly, the fans no longer want him in the Steel City.

I’m sure teams are crawling at the opportunity to pick up the phone on regarding the wideout’s availability, and rightfully so. Bryant is a tremendous athlete, and had the potential to build something special with the Steelers.

Yet for whatever reason, Bryant no longer wants to be a part of likely the only organization that had the patience and desire for him to get better, through two suspensions for violations of substance abuse policy. It’s a safe assumption to make that, if the late Dan Rooney were still alive, he would be extremely disappointed in Bryant, just like the rest of fans are.

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Will the Steelers trade him? That question still remains up in the air. Pittsburgh’s phone line must be buzzing with potential suitors for Bryant, however the team has yet to make it known publicly if any decision has been made on his availability. One thing is for certain: The Steelers don’t need Bryant in their offense with the depth they have at the position.

There are other options as to what to do with Bryant, sure. Whatever route is chosen in removing Bryant, though, will be the right one, regardless of what it takes.