Steelers Bar Santa Claus From All Future Press Conferences

(photos courtesy of Getty Images)

Yesterday, Gretz hit the highlights of the most uncomfortable holiday-related press conference you'll ever see. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who figured he'd be talking about, well, the Steelers, was interrupted by some old dude dressed as Santa.

Sounds harmless enough until you see the moving pictures (the NFL.com feed is here, the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review's is below).

And today we find out who reprised the role of Drunk Santa: local sports announcer Bill DiFabio, who, according to the AP, "traditionally dresses up as Santa for the pre-Christmas press gathering and often pokes fun at the Steelers coach for a few moments. Former coach Bill Cowher often went along with the gag."

... [W]hen DiFabio commandeered the news conference for more than five minutes, passing out gifts and cracking jokes about fellow sportscasters, the Browns and Cowboys, nose tackle Casey Hampton's weight and the woebegone Pirates, Tomlin became impatient.

Hey, everybody's good at something, and DiFabio's gift is dressing up in outfits and annoying a room full of people. Basically, he's Carrot Top, but funnier.

In a shocking development, the Steelers later revealed that "there would be no future appearances from Santa at any of their news conferences."