They say one of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s main philosophies is to treat his men—his players—like men.
Guess what? Whether most NFL head coaches hold that same belief for not, that’s pretty much the standard coach/player relationship these days. Name one head coach who towers over his players like Vince Lombardi once did as the Packers head coach. You might blurt out Bill Belichick, the head coach of the Patriots, but his tyranny only goes as far as quarterback Tom Brady will allow it to go.
Face it, in a league where the majority of players (or, at least the majority of accomplished and/or star players) make considerably more than their coaches—their bosses—this is how it is pretty much everywhere.