Fans love Mike Tomlin’s hot dog quote about his team

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin roams the sidelines during player introductions prior to the start of the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA on October 29, 2023.

Don’t ask Mike Tomlin how the hot dog or the sausage is made, because he’s not about to tell you.

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Denver Broncos 13-6 in Week 2 on Sunday. Steelers quarterback Justin Fields revealed that Tomlin had awarded Russell Wilson with a “petty game ball” thanks to Pittsburgh beating Wilson’s former team.

Tomlin apparently has had a tradition for a while where he awards petty game balls to players going against their former teams. The longtime Steelers head coach was asked about that Tuesday, and declined to elaborate for the media.

“None of your businesses, respectfully,” Tomlin said. “There’s certain things that go on among teams that I don’t talk about. Whether it gets out or how it gets out is unimportant to me, and I’m not overly guarded against it. But it is just certain things as a leader that I talk to the collective about, that I have zero intentions of sharing with the larger public. Because it’s about our collective and how we come together and how we appreciate and support one another. And I can’t give you all the ingredients to the hot dog. You might not like it.”

Mike Tomlin on giving "petty game balls" like in Denver: "None of your businesses, respectfully. There's certain things that go on among teams that I don't talk about. Whether it gets out or how it gets out is unimportant to me, and I'm not overly guarded against it. But there's…

— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) September 17, 2024

Credit Tomlin with mixing metaphors there. And he’s right — people really don’t want to know how the locker room sausage is made. They should just be happy that their Steelers are 2-0 to start the season.