Why Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick believes a clean logo can deliver a championship

Some players in the NFL have superstitions while others just pay a little extra attention to detail. Steelers All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick might be a combination of the two following his latest act.

Fitzpatrick quietly spoke with Pittsburgh's safety and the equipment staff to have stanchions placed around the Steelers logo at the center of their locker room after seeing too many footprints on it.

"I was just tired of seeing it dirty," Fitzpatrick said. "We had gotten a new one maybe two or three years ago in the locker room. It was fresh, clean, white, and then during OTAs, I noticed it getting really dirty. It's not like people are doing it on purpose. But at the end of the day, we used to take pride in little stuff like that. And I'm a guy that likes order, and I believe that when you allow one thing to slip, everything else starts to slip."

Fitzpatrick didn't make an announcement. He simply felt it needed to be done and went on with his day. It's certainly a move a leader would make.

Although Fitzpatrick wasn't named a team captain this season, the 26-year-old continues to lead by example, and it may just rub off enough on his teammates to help the Steelers return to the playoffs in 2023.

Pittsburgh is in a six-year playoff win drought and Fitzpatrick is hoping paying attention to details can end the streak and maybe even end in the team hoisting its seventh Vince Lombardi trophy.

"I think we'll start to see it come Week 1, and then Week 2 and Week 3 and Week 4," Fitzpatrick added. "When we just start getting better week to week because we're paying attention to the details, and we're not making the same mistakes over and over again."

Of course, a clean logo doesn't win football games but there's a different feel in the Steelers' locker room this year, one that makes the team believe 2023 can be different.