Top 5 stories in Pittsburgh sports in 2019

Much like a year ago, the 2019 Steelers season ended in disappointment when the team fell short of reaching the playoffs.

Also like 2018, the past year was filled with captivating storylines in Pittsburgh sports. Here’s a few of the most memorable:

1. Quarterback carousel

Life without Ben Roethlisberger was far from anyone’s mind in April when the quarterback signed a two-year contract extension. By the fall, the Steelers got a preview of their post-Roethlisberger future.

It wasn’t too pretty.

Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges combined to throw 17 interceptions — including 14 over the final 10 games of the season — in playing the final 14½ games of the season after Roethlisberger’s season-ending elbow surgery.

Each showed his moments while in his first NFL regular-season action. Rudolph, a 2018 third-round pick, was 5-3 as a starter; Hodges became the first non-replacement undrafted rookie over the past 50 years to win his first three starts. Nicknamed “Duck” because of his world-class duck-calling skills, Hodges became a Pittsburgh cult hero for a time.

That was long forgotten, though, by the end of the season after “Duck” threw six interceptions over a six-quarter December span and then completed just 9 of 25 passes in the finale at Baltimore. Rudolph, likewise, had an awful six-quarter span (his in late November, when he threw five interceptions).

Roethlisberger announced his intention to return in a Christmas Day social-media post, vowing to “to come back stronger and better than ever next year.” Steelers fans surely will welcome him back.

2. Bucs new leadership team

The Pirates started their rebuilding efforts at the top of the organization, pushing president Frank Coonelly out the door and firing manager Clint Hurdle and general manager Neal Huntington. Coonelly and Huntington had led the team since 2007.

Hurdle was let go after nine seasons, including the Pirates’ first three postseason berths in two decades but their worst record since 2010 (69-93).

Accepting the challenge of rebuilding the team were president Travis Williams, a former Penguins executive; general manager Ben Cherington, who built the Red Sox into a World Series champion in 2013; and first-time manager Derek Shelton.

The changes came after a humiliating second half of the season. In addition to a dismal 25-48 record, the team made headlines with an outrageous brawl with the Cincinnati Reds, a clubhouse fight between teammates Kyle Crick and Felipe Vazquez, and most seriously, Vazquez’s arrest on charges of sexual assault of a minor.

3. AB on the move

No NFL player had a bigger fall from grace in 2019 than former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.

The perennial Pro Bowl selection forced a trade from the Steelers when it became evident the two entities could not co-exist. On his way out the door, he trashed everyone from Roethlisberger to fellow wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to general manager Kevin Colbert.

The Steelers got third- and fifth-round draft picks in March from the Oakland Raiders in exchange for Brown. At the time, it looked like the Steelers got fleeced in the trade, but sentiment swayed in the other direction when Oakland, tired of his distractions, released Brown and voided the guaranteed money in his contract.

Brown ended up with the New England Patriots, but his tenure ended after one game when allegation surfaced of Brown sending intimidating text messages to a woman who had accused him of sexual assault.

Brown didn’t play the rest of the season, but the New Orleans Saints worked him out late in the year.

4. Pens had their fill of Phil

Phil Kessel’s time with the Penguins came to an end for the same reason it began.

He wore out his welcome.

Much like Kessel’s previous employer, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Penguins reached a point of no return in dealing with Kessel’s idiosyncrasies, which grated management throughout his four seasons in Pittsburgh.

Kessel’s eccentricity was easier to digest while he was a major factor in winning the Stanley Cup in 2016 and ’17. When his offense dried up during brief playoff appearances over the next two seasons — including an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders in April — the clock began to tick on his departure.

The Penguins jettisoned Kessel and his $6.8 million salary cap hit to Arizona in June. That, coupled with an offseason trade that sent Olli Maatta’s $4.08 million to Chicago, allowed the Penguins to reshape their roster with a focus on speed, defense and relentless forechecking.

So far, the makeover is paying dividends, as the Penguins have overcome multiple injuries to sit in prime playoff position as the new year dawns.

5. Heads up, Mason

It was the helmet swing heard ’round the NFL world.

In the waning moments of a snoozer of a Thursday night game, the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett drove Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph into the ground after a screen pass. A scuffle ensued.

Eventually, Garrett ripped off Rudolph’s helmet and swung it into the quarterback’s bare head. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey attacked Garrett, punching and kicking the Browns’ defensive star as players from both rival teams emptied onto the field. Garrett was suspended indefinitely by the NFL — upheld by appeal — and Pouncey received a two-game ban.

Honorable mention

• There was talk of Pitt earning its first Orange Bowl berth when it took a 7-3 record into the final two games of the regular season. But the offense went to sleep in a 28-0 loss at Virginia Tech, and the defense couldn’t find an answer for Boston College running back A.J. Dillon in a 26-19 loss at Heinz Field. A come-from-behind victory against Eastern Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl gave coach Pat Narduzzi his third eight-victory season in five years, but beating a 6-7 MAC team wiped away only a portion of the fans’ disappointment.

• If the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking for someone to excite the fan base and sell tickets, Josh Bell fit the description nicely early in the season. He blasted the fourth- and fifth-longest home runs in the 19-year history of PNC Park, sending baseballs flying into the Allegheny River 474 and 472 feet from home plate April 7 and May 8.

• Penn State won its eighth national championship in nine years and local standouts Spencer Lee of Iowa and Jason Nolf of the Nittany Lions claimed individual titles as PPG Paints Arena hosted the NCAA wrestling championships in March. Total attendance was 109,405. The arena also hosted the NCAA volleyball championships earlier this month, with Stanford winning the title.