As the coach of one of the NFL’s most successful franchises, the Pittsburgh Steelers, for nearly two decades, Mike Tomlin was charged with building championship-caliber teams.
asserted
Tomlin → charge → teams
In his free time, Tomlin was building something different: an elaborate cityscape in the video game “Minecraft.”
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Tomlin → build → game
On his YouTube channel on Wednesday, Tomlin revealed part of that map, which he said he had been working on for more than 12 years.
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he → reveal → years
Within four hours, the episode had been viewed more than 334,000 times.
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episode → view → hours
By the next morning, that total had doubled.
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total → double → morning
“I’ve always had an interest in architecture and so forth,” Tomlin said in the video, which has amassed over 900,000 views.
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which → have → views
“And so I started building this creative city.”
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I → start → city
Tomlin may have been perfecting the map for more than a decade, but his hobby had only become public three weeks earlier.
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hobby → perfect → decade
The 54-year-old stepped down as the Steelers’ coach in January after 19 consecutive winning seasons, which included two Super Bowl victories.
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which → step → victories
As his debut season as a broadcaster for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” began last month, Tomlin revealed in an interview with Craig Melvin that his passions, in fact, ranged beyond football.
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passions → begin → football
Watching his then-young children spend hours playing “Minecraft” had inspired him to see what all the fuss was about.
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fuss → watch → what
As they became teenagers and went off to college, their interest waned.
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interest → become → college
Not Tomlin’s, though.
“More than anything, it was therapeutic for me,” Tomlin said.
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Tomlin → say → me
I’m not a big TV watcher.
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I → ’m → ?
It allowed me to detach from the realities and the pressures of life.”
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me → allow → life
With the Steelers, Tomlin was known for unique sayings referred to as “Tomlinisms.”
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Tomlin → know → Tomlinisms
In 2020, he famously wouldn’t allow Covid restrictions to be used as a hardship, saying, “We do not care.”
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We → allow → hardship
So it stunned some football fans last month to hear that what Tomlin privately did care so much for was a video game that is immensely popular with elementary-age kids.
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that → stun → kids
Since its creation in 2009, “Minecraft” has become the bestselling game of all time, with more than 300 million copies sold, Microsoft said in 2024, and has since spawned a popular movie.
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Microsoft → become → movie
An open-world “sandbox” game, “Minecraft” allows users to build whatever their creativity desires using a variety of materials, from different types of stone and wood to beyond.
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creativity → allow → beyond
Some players build fantasy worlds where building physics don’t apply.
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physics → build → worlds
Players often build in multiple maps.
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Players → build → maps
Tomlin stuck to just one, however, preferring to build what appears to be a midsize city centered around bodies of water and with a dense urban core that includes sports stadiums, high-rises and a PNC Bank.
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that → stick → stadiums
The map showed hills and wooded suburbs.
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map → show → hills
Narrating his tour with a matter-of-fact delivery not out of place from his past weekly news conferences, Tomlin used verbiage a real estate developer would approve of while saying that his map all began by creating a bay.
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map → narrate → bay
Then he built a boutique hotel, complete with an executive spa, therapy rooms and an “appropriate number of public restrooms.”
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he → build → restrooms
Showing off a glass ceiling over the hotel’s conference room, Tomlin called his design philosophy “lighting-conscious.”
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Tomlin → show → philosophy
Mike Tomlin says he's been working on a city in 'Minecraft'
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he → say → Minecraft
Some commenters online questioned how much time Tomlin had spent building while also working in the NFL, an industry known for its workaholic culture.
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Tomlin → question → culture
Former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell wrote, “we were tryna win super bowls and coach T was on minecraft building cities 😭.”
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T → write → cities
More so, the reaction tended to center on Tomlin’s dedication to realism.
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reaction → tend → realism
“Never thought I’d watch Mike Tomlin discuss lighting and basement speakeasies,” one YouTube commenter said.
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commenter → think → lighting
On a Reddit thread devoted to Tomlin’s build, one person wrote, “When Mike Tomlin first mentioned this whole thing, I was NOT expecting such an impressive city!”
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I → devote → city
Tomlin built buildings by themes, intentionally placing them next to rivers, bays and lakes he carved out of the map.
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he → build → map
His designs are intricate; residential buildings included different floor plans for the penthouse than the lower floors.
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buildings → include → floors
Kitchens featured islands.
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Kitchens → feature → islands
Bathrooms featured plants.
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Bathrooms → feature → plants
Bedrooms included paintings.
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Bedrooms → include → paintings
The living spaces in one high-rise, which was down the street from buildings named “CVS” and “7-Eleven,” wrapped around a central aquarium.
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which → name → aquarium
At some point, Tomlin acknowledged becoming “obsessed with rooftop penthouses” with great views.
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Tomlin → acknowledge → views
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
