Why do reporters and bloggers write about player comments on controversial or trending topics? Because they say them. And why to the players say those things in the first place? This is the important part to remember: far more often than not, it’s because somebody asked them about it.
Too often I see comments from people that are some variation of ‘why is he even commenting on that’; the answer is almost invariably because ‘he was asked for his opinion on that’. And so as players slowly filter their way back into the NFL season, we are starting to see Pittsburgh Steelers players asked about the hot button issues the team has been facing during the offseason.