After finishing with the second best record in the AFC, the Pittsburgh Steelers have two weeks to prepare for their divisional-round playoff matchup. That gives players and coaches some time to relax, unwind, watch tape and, for offensive coordinator Todd Haley, recover from a hip injury suffered outside a bar on New Year’s Eve.
Per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Haley was shoved to the ground Sunday night, hurting his hip in the process. 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi added that the incident occurred outside a bar called Tequila Cowboy.
#Steelers OC Todd Haley was shoved down outside a bar near Heinz Field on New Year’s Eve, sources tell me and @TomPelissero. It resulted in a hip injury. Police have looked into it.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 2, 2018
I’m hearing the Haley incident occurred at Tequila Cowboy and police were involved.
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) January 2, 2018
The Steelers confirmed that Haley was “injured in a fall” but said he will be back at team offices this week.
Haley’s name has come up in numerous coaching rumors this offseason. Speculation has him as a potential offensive coordinator in Dallas or even head coach in Arizona, where he served as offensive coordinator in 2007 and 2008. His lone head coaching tenure so far has come with the Chiefs; Haley was fired after posting a 19-26 record from 2009-11.
Based on the reported details of Haley’s bar incident, we don’t know whether the coach was the instigator in some kind of altercation, whether he was an innocent bystander who caught a stray or whether a Ravens fan was taking out some anger. But regardless of what happened here, the idea of an NFL coach, especially one with Haley’s hotheaded reputation, hurting himself outside an institution called Tequila Cowboy is kind of amusing.
this is the most todd haley sentece of all time https://t.co/uAHQJ6mJNa
— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) January 2, 2018
Hopefully Haley gets some rest during the Steelers’ bye week and has his hip fully ready to face the Chiefs/Titans/Jaguars on January 14.