The Pittsburgh Steelers weathered the media storm for months, with seemingly every aspect of their way of doing business being put under the microscope and examined without a complete data set from outside observers.
Under the most scrutiny through it all proved to be not the two players who decided to leave, but the one who is most important to the franchise, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who among other things was accused of fumbling on purpose five years ago, the implication being that this would say something about the type of person he is.
With the start of the annual league meeting, however, there is been more positive talk, much of it coming from the Steelers themselves.