Ever get tired of overly-canned and scripted athletes? The 'we just got to take it one game at a time' lines and all the other cliches and general lack of realness we see from pro athletes? I am.

Well, Chris Cooley's an athlete who will shoot straight with you, and he does so with regularity on his blog. This is no updated only once a month type site, this is a legitamate blog, updated frequently with both football insights and a glimpse into his personal life.

Here's a sample from his Draft Day Q&A with his readers:

9. What was the funniest thing I have seen done to a rookie?
My first year in the NFL I watched some of the offensive lineman get a guy really good. First of all, it was a real fight for this to ever happen and if I was ever getting hazed I would just go with it. That said, it's a lot more fun for the "hazers" if they know the person getting hazed hates it. They taped up another rookie and rubbed Icy Hot all over his body. Someone even got a glove and rubbed it in his crack. After the Icy Hot they threw him in the ice tub. One of our trainers got him out after about 20 minutes. That would have really sucked.

 

7. Do I have any chance to voice my opinions in the draft?
Players are completely left in the dark when it comes to the draft. Other than showing up for practice and playing we have no voice in the organization. What do teams really care though? We could be gone in a day.

And some personal stuff from another Q&A.

7. Who would win in a tag team match between Chris and Christy and Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson? The tag team match would start off with Christy and Jessica in the ring. Someone would come out of the stands with a cooler of beer and a couple of stools for Tony and I. We would proceed to sit ringside and high-five while clothes were furiously ripped off. In my world the match would end in Jes tapping out to a vicious choke hold, and I wouldn't be surprised if Christy dropped an elbow on her before she poured beer all over herself to celebrate.

In case you were wondering who Christy is, that's his wife, a former Redskins cheerleader.

And finally, Cooley sheds some light on the physical rigors of the offseason. Ever been curious exactly what the workout regiments of NFL players are like? He's got  you covered there too.

Top notch stuff from him. I anxiously await the day we get an inside look from one of our own favorite players on the Steelers.

Pardon my absence yesterday and this morning. Absolutely couldn't let things pile up on my desk any longer :) And this morning?? Tending to a jaywalking ticket I had received awhile ago. I know, BS.

Anyway, the Pittsburgh Penguins face off against cross-state rival Philadelphia this evening. Having cruised through the opening two rounds, Pittsburgh will likely face a much stiffer challenge from the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

I'm not going to try to provide any sort of analysis. I know no hockey. But I'm sure excited to see the Pens playing fantastic hockey again. Seeing their home arena rocking again is a thing of beauty, especially come playoff time. Head to the link above for more substantive analysis on the series, and use this thread to comment on their chase for the Cup if you're a hockey fan.

As I mentioned in my second installment of an Analysis of the top RBs in NFL history, I found a couple names from very far back that I wanted to research and let you all know more about them. The reason that I became interested in them was the fact that both had such high yards/attempt numbers as well as extremely high yards/reception numbers. Those stats intrigued me enough to want to learn more about them.

Click to Enlarge

The two players I’m referring to are Marion Motley and Orban "Spec" Sanders.  

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For those new to the site, you may not be aware of my affinity for the Mewelde Moore signing earler this offseason. You can read about my reaciton to acquiring him here and here. Basically, I was excited not only because he had performed well when given the opportunity and would provide an instant upgrade in the punt return department, I viewed the Vikings' decision to let him go simply as one of roster management. With Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor under contract, the Vikings simply did not have the cap room or enough carries to keep Moore around. Because he seems to be such a good young man, I suspect the Vikings let him walk partly because they felt he deserved the opportunity to see the field more elsewhere.

Well, looks like Moore may be in the exact same situation in Pittsburgh as he was in Minnesota. Think about it, even if Najeh Davenport was released and Moore was the 3rd RB on the depth chart - which he would be assuming Mendenhall is healthy and performs anywhere near expectation levels - Moore won't have his number called much, if any, in the running game. Mendenhall's arrival shouldn't stand in the way of Moore taking over punt return duties, and perhaps even kick returns, so he will have a niche on this team. But, would a capable, somewhat proven 26 year old entering the prime of his career, really choose Pittsburgh as his ideal destination if he had known he'd be buried on the depth chart behind Parker and Mendenhall? Perhaps, I'm not sure. What do you think?

With Parker and Mendenhall in front of him on the depth chart, is there room for Mewelde Moore in Pittsburgh's increasingly crowded back-field? (Photo Credit )

Several things to consider and sort out with our running game that I'd enjoy hearing your input on:

1. We already read about Peter King believing we will run the ball much more in 2008. What do you think? How many carries do you see both Parker and Mendenhall getting, assuming both stay healthy?

2. Is there any chance we keep Davenport and carry those four RBs, plus Davis and possibly even Russell? Certainly we don't carry 6 on our traveling squad, but might we keep 5?

3. Can you name me any depth charts that might have been more accessible to Mewelde Moore? We've discussed how having 2 legit RB options is the new trend in the NFL. But there's got to be other markets where there isn't an incumbent as talented as Willie Parker and a high-profile 1st round pick as the #2 option. Right?

4. Moore signed a 3-year $4.95 million dollar deal this offseason. Can we assume that Parker has 3 more solid years left in him at least, and that after 3 years, we should be reaping the fruits of Mendenhall's immense ability? By that time, Mewelde Moore would be 29 years old and the windown of opportunity would be just about shut.

The floor is open. Weigh in.

Not only do the Steelers dust the Cincinnati Bengals on the field of competition, they also lap them in terms of treating their fans well. StripeHype, a Bengals fan site, has been sued by Mr. Paul Brown, the Bengals owner, for copy-right infringment. Brown's claim is the site uses the team's logo and photos without permission. Now, I can't say I read this site, so I have no clue the extent to which they may or may not use the team's copy-righted materials, but my primary hunch is that this is something that didn't need such drastic aciton. When I (accdidentally and incorrectly) used some notes of Mr. Jim Wexell's a few weeks ago, he politely asked me to be more careful in the future. When I first started out blogging about my favorite team, I was a touch haphazard with a paysite's training camp notes. I was issued a warning. Not a law-suit. And the organization itself has never contacted me even though we're often times using photos from the team's website (while providing the necessary photo credits of course.

Anyway, here's a few tidbits from the site moderator about the incident:

Well, as of today, I quit blogging anything positive on behalf of the Cincinnati Clowns....I have been accused of copyright infringement for using their trademarked name. So be warned Cincy fans (of which I am no longer), you better refer to your hometown NFL team as “those guys on the river that play football” or Mikey’s boys will come after you looking for more money. Doesn’t it seem like he’s gouged us all enough? Is Mike Brown related to Simon Leis somehow? Seems like the jack-booted Gestapo tactics that the Unpopular Hamilton County Sheriff uses has infiltrated the Bengals PR and Legal departments.

 

Looks like the players aren’t the only ones associated with the Bengals in legal trouble. I’m not even associated with them, and I’m in trouble. Hmmm..maybe a symptom of the organization after all??
GO BROWNS!!

Look, I'm all for protecting one's intellectual property. If this guy is in fact repeatedly absuing that code of ethics, then he deserves to be reprimanded. This is why I urge all of us (repeatedly) to cite appropriately when using other's ideas. It matters and it will come back to bite us in the long-run if we're not careful.

That said, this is just another example of how the Bengals organization, from top to bottom, from ownership, to players, to the fans, just don't -quite- get it right.

All Hail Mr. Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers PR Department, and the best, most ubiquitous, and most loyal and informed fan-base in the NFL!

Just a small blurb here while I tie up some things at work and continue writing a piece on Mewelde Moore:

Peter King has ranked all 32 teams in his latest MMQ column. New England and Indy, #1 and #2, followed by Jacksonville, Dallas and San Diego to round out the top 5.  I'm intrigued by his high regard for Jacksonville, and similarly with Carolina, who he put in his top 10.

Guess who else earned a spot in his top 10. The Cleveland Browns!

How can a draftless team improve? Because this team had its draft in free-agency. A couple of things worry me, as they should every Browns fan. Will Shaun Rogers be a player for half the season and an unproductive blob the other half? I don't know. And will Kellen Winslow hold out or do something Chad Johnson-ish to ruin the great karma of the NFL's new national TV darlings?

This team has five prime-time games for the first time since Paul Brown prowled the sidelines and Jim Brown was a runner, not a protester. "I think our guys will like it,'' said GM Phil Savage. "I think they'll take to the challenge.''

Nice words and maybe even true ones. But Cleveland's opponents -- like Dallas on opening day -- will think they're going to have to play really well to beat the Browns. In other words, Cleveland's not going to catch anyone by surprise. The pressure's on. I think leader types such as Willie McGinest and Jamal Lewis, who have been there before, will help keep heads on straight.

 

Pittsburgh trails only slightly in King's mind. At number 12, he had this to say about the team:

This has nothing to do with the toughest schedule any of us has ever seen -- all 10 non-division foes were .500 or better last year -- because if it did, the Steelers would be slightly lower. I worry about the Pittsburgh offensive line, and I worry about the pass-rush. Both areas broke down while the Steelers lost four of their last five (two to Jacksonville at home) in the last month of the season.

But I think they'll be at least as good as they were last year, all things considered. Ben Roethlisberger (32-to-11 touchdown-to-interception differential) was terrific last year, and he could be better with a big target, rookie Limas Sweed, roaming down the seam on third downs. And a Parker-Mendenhall-Davenport rushing trifecta means the Steelers should have a run-pass percentage more like 55-45 than the 51-49 of 2007. A dominant running game has always been a Steelers staple, and it has to return for Pittsburgh to control the ball against the best teams in the league, most of whom the Steelers will face this year.

 

Not a terrible assesment in such limited space, but there's several likely errors in his prognosis:

1) Davenport will surely be playing somewhere besides Pittsburgh won't he?

2) I'm not so sure we'll try to run the ball much more this year. Maybe a bit more to accommodate our two #1-type RBs.

3) I know it's nice to dream about Limas Sweed being a difference maker this year, but in all likelihood, that won't be the case. Instead, why don't we find a way to get Heath Miller the ball more in the seam? By the way, having seen Sweed play lots, his value is along the sidelines anyway, at least more so than over the middle and in the windows between LBs and Safeties

Anyway, as we've discussed, the prospect of a renewed rivalry between the Browns and Steelers would likely be welcomed by both fanbases. Count Peter King amongst the growing legion of columnists that believe the Browns are the best in the AFC North. I'm not buying it just yet.

WolfpackSteelersFan graciously provides us with an even more comprehensive look at some of the better RBs in NFL history. Great stuff from him, not surprisingly. Enjoy. -Blitz-

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This is a followup to my previous post: Quantitative Analysis of Top 10 RBs in NFL history . In that post I had said I may follow up with a look at the top 10 RBs in yards/game that did not make the top 10 in overall yards. I had also (erroneously) stated that Bo Jackson was the only non-QB in the top 10 in yards/attempt. Further research showed me that Spec Sanders and Marion Motley were in this list. If, like me, you’re wondering who they are, don’t worry. I’m working on another entry to give some biographical info on these two players. But, based on their yards/attempt rankings, I have included these two RBs in this analysis.

There is also one other item of note. I decided to break out Terrell Davis into two categories, first four years and entire career. The reason I did that is because I was curious how his numbers were in the first 4 years, when he was arguably the best RB over any 4 year span in NFL history. After his knee injury at the beginning of year 5, he was never the same. Anyway, on to the analysis.

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Not a Steelers fan, just mildly miffed at all the high-profile robberies in 'my' city. Doesn't look good.

But it could've been worse:

Star University of Illinois running back and recent Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Rashard Mendenhall was robbed at gunpoint along the Chicago lakefront early Monday morning, police and a relative said.

A male and a female were robbed around 2 a.m. Monday by two offenders near 39th Street and Lake Shore Drive, said police spokesman John Mirabelli. Nobody was hurt in the incident, and no one is in custody for the armed robbery, Mirabelli said.

Mendenhall's mother, Sybil, confirmed that her son had been robbed at that location Monday morning and that the robbers had taken his wallet and cell phone.

"He didn't get hit or anything, he didn't get hurt or anything," Sybil Mendenhall said Monday afternoon. "He's fine."

Rather than drawing this out any more than I have to, I'll be brief with the last two picks and give a few final thoughts on the draft. 

Mike Humpal, ILB, 6'3 244

Strengths/Weaknesses: Humpal seems to be a strong run stuffing type of LB with limited speed. He knows how to plug rushing lanes, take on blocks, and make tackles. He may struggle in man-to-man coverage, but he isn't a huge liability in short zone coverage. He seems to be a tough, smart, hard working guy who is willing to play special teams.

Analysis: I was hoping the Steelers would make a pick like this. Timmons and Foote may be undersized for the SILB position, but Humpal could give us a solid run stuffer if Farrior leaves or gets injured. We don't have any other players in this mold right now, so he has a good chance of making the team as a backup and special teams guy. As a bonus, his name gives us a chance to come up with some creative expressions (e.g. "Joshua Cribbs, you've just been Hump'd!!").

Ryan Mundy, S, 6'1 215

Strengths/Weaknesses: Mundy is a big, strong safety with good hands and ball skills. He is a good run defender and tackler, but he doesn't have great range or speed. He is a hard worker, but according to NFL's draft site, he doesn't get excited about special teams, which is a concern. He transferred to WVU after being at UM for 4 years, and while there doesn't seem to be anything wrong it, it does seem a bit strange.

Analysis: Ryan Clark seems to be fine, but having an extra safety can't hurt since our two starters have some issues with injuries. While Mundy may get cut if he doesn't do well on special teams, he looks like a solid backup at SS with enough upside to grow into a possible starter. If he shows potential, he could push Carter for a roster spot.

Summary and Final Thoughts:

The biggest thing I noticed as I was looking at scouting reports of the Steelers draftees was that in almost every case, the players we drafted are hard workers with a good attitude and were productive in college. If we look at a lot of the players we passed on (Balmer, Avril, and Moore come to mind), we see great athletes who either don't seem committed to hard work or don't translate into productive football players.  Time will tell, but I think this draft was outstanding both in the value we got and in the type of players we drafted. We didn't fill every need, but we did fix serious depth issues at SILB, OLB, and RB. In a year or two, the skill players in this offense could be as good as anyone in the league, and if the OL (and Arians) can even be average, it's reasonable to think that we could have one of the best offenses in the league while maintaining a very good defense.

My only concern with how this draft worked out is that next year, we may be in a position of even greater need on OL and DL and even more pressured to pick for need over value. If that is the case, we may see a couple of trades or reaches that at some level are the result of this draft. If that's the only thing we're compaining about though, it's hard not to call this a highly successful draft.

Amidst all the great discussions about the draft, I thought I would step back and take a stroll down memory lane.  This story takes place in January, 1979 when I was finishing up a degree in Sports Management at Biscayne College (now St. Thomas University) in Miami.  There were only a handful of colleges back then who offered Sports Management, so the students at this small college came from all over the country.  The Steelers had just walloped the Houston Oilers to qualify for Super Bowl XIII, and since the game was in Miami, I was on Cloud 9.

Sitting in class one day my professor, who had local sports connections, asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to work the Super Bowl.  I shot out of my seat like a rocket.  The other students were from all over the country and they knew I was from Pittsburgh, so I got the gig.

When I asked what I was to do, I was informed they needed someone to drive the truck with the band equipment for the halftime show.  No problem.  I can drive a truck.  What I learned was that the halftime show was actually 13 bands, all from Caribbean countries, that would cover the entire field!  It turned out the truck was not a semi (they would have never asked a kid to drive such), but the biggest vehicle possible with two axles.

During rehearsal, I actually tried to drive when in truth I did not belong behind that wheel.  Since I already volunteered and since my beloved Steelers were involved, I was young and dumb enough to try.  I didn’t get very far.  In the middle of my first turn onto Biscayne Boulevard I knew I was in trouble.  So much so, that I stopped the truck in the middle of the turn and got out!  I had stopped traffic both ways on a major highway but I couldn’t go on. 

I ran back in the building and told the boss that his truck was in the middle of the road and that I couldn’t drive it.  He went berserk and found someone to get it off the road and then he took me behind the woodshed.  I had caused some major trauma.  When he was done yelling, I meekly apologized and said I had no idea that the "halftime band" was actually 13 of them!!  I handed back my beautiful credential that was going to get me in Super Bowl XIII and started to walk away pouting like a puppy.

With divine intervention, he started feeling bad for me and admitted, "You know, someone should have told you the size of the truck.  That was my fault."  I think he also realized how screwed up his already-stressed world would have been had I continued driving and been in a wreck.  And with that he handed me back the credential saying "You can still help with set-up."

Come Super Bowl Sunday, here was this college kid, lifelong die-hard fan of the Steelers, down on the field during pre-game getting all the halftime props ready.  After we were done, all the rest of the helpers left the field.  Our credential didn’t allow us on the field during the game.  I told myself that I wasn’t leaving that field until someone made me.  As it turned out, none of the cops ever asked me to leave.  I had a credential dangling with the Super Bowl logo on it and no one bothered to check the small print!

Back in those days security wasn’t nearly as tight and I basically took advantage of it.

I wasn’t permitted in the bench area, but I freely roamed the sidelines and end zones with the closest of officials and photographers.  I basically stayed inside the 25-yard lines ahead of the ball.

The game itself was clearly the best Super Bowl played to date and is still considered one of the all-time greats.  The Steelers came out smoking and scored on their first drive.  I was around the other side of the end zone when John Stallworth snagged a 28-yard touchdown pass, but my moments of guessing right were still to come.

The Steelers had gone the entire season without giving up a touchdown in the first quarter, a remarkable feat, until the Cowboys scored on the very last play of the first quarter.  A short Roger Staubach pass to Tony Hill turned into a long gain when Mel Blount had his back to the play, locked onto his own assignment, while Hill waltzed right by him.

No sooner did Pittsburgh get the ball back, when Hollywood Henderson (yes, this was the infamous "Bradshaw can’t spell C.A.T." game) locked up a scrambling Bradshaw while Mike Hegman stripped him of the ball and ran 38 yards into the end zone.  We had gone from a seven-point lead to a seven-point deficit in about four plays.

Not to worry, on the third play of the Steelers next possession, Stallworth again caught a pass designed simply to move the chains, but after breaking a tackle, he ran by four Cowboys like they were statues, 75 yards to paydirt.  Things settled a bit until the last half-minute of the half.  Bradshaw hit Rocky Bleier right at the boundry of the end zone.  For a split second, I actually thought I was going to catch that pass, it was coming right at me.  In fact, I scampered back so that Rocky wouldn’t run into me (he ended up falling instead of running out-of-bounds.  How neat was that?  Even more pleasing was that it was Bleier, who had been through so much in Viet Nam and subsequent rehab, who scored his one and only Super Bowl touchdown. 

As a sidenote, the Steelers did not punt the entire first half, attributed to three Bradshaw touchdowns and three Bradshaw turnovers.  In addition, Swanny and Stall combined for over 200 yards by the half.

At haltime I earned my keep (hardly) by helping to roll a gigantic blue tarp not only covering the field, but the entire ground level of the Orange Bowl.  The blue was to depict water and on the tarp were the islands of the Carribean.  The 13 bands each played, making this one of the first really long halftimes.  In fact, the first half was played in complete daylight and the second half in complete darkness since the entire dusk transition occurred during the long halftime.

The third quarter produced only one memorable play, but it still ranks among the top 10 memorable plays in Super Bowl history.  With the Cowboys trailing 21-14 and inside the Pittsburgh red zone, the Steelers sent Jack Lambert on an inside blitz leaving the middle of the field wide open.  Lambert was one of the greatest cover linebackers in NFL history, but he gets little credit for that.  His mantra is so entrenched in that mean, snarly Dracula-looking toughness, that people never gave him enough credit for his coverage ability.  He would go sideline to sideline and then 35 yards downfield draped all over a would-be receiver.

Anyhow, with the middle wide open, Staubach found Hall of Famer Jackie Smith all alone in the end zone.  I might have been the closest human being to Smith when he dropped that famous touchdown pass that would have tied the score at 21 (certainly no Steelers were anywhere close!).  I was at least one of the closest, standing in the middle of the back of the end zone with the photographers.  Dallas settled for a field goal that pulled the score to 21-17.  Smith never played again.

The fourth quarter continued to make this game an all-time classic, with both teams scoring 28 points in the final seven minutes.  It started with Pittsburgh inside the Dallas 20.  On a third-down play, the Steelers didn’t get the play off.  The whistle stopped play for delay of game and everyone heard it, except Hollywood Henderson.  He came in untouched and flung Bradshaw to the ground.  Today he would have been flagged, incarcerated and deprived of his first-born male.  Back then it wasn’t even a penalty.

It did, however, spark a fire in Franco Harris.  In 12 years with the Steelers, I never saw him lose his cool or become emotional, even after the Immaculate Reception, but he was infuriated with Henderson.  He got in Hollywood’s face and then screamed something in his own huddle.  On the very next play, despite being third and nine, Harris went up the middle like a maniac and went all the way to the house.  The only Cowboy who have a chance of tackling him, Charlie Waters, ran smack into the umpire and the play was history.

Roy Gerela squibbed the ensuing kickoff and Hall of Famer Randy White tried to return it.  He had a cast on his arm from a fracture the week prior, which didn’t help matters when none other than Tony Dungy blasted into him and caused a fumble.  Dirt Winston recovered and on the very next play, the Blonde Bomber went right to the end zone where Lynn Swann made one of his patented acrobatic catches to make the score 35-17.

Of course, Roger Staubach was great and so were the Cowboys (defending NFL champions).  They marched down field for a score; onside kick recovered; another march and score and while I thought the Steelers sideline was way too nonchalant and celebratory, the score became 35-31.

Still, with less than a half minute to play, Dallas needed another onside recovery and subsequent miracle.  The man who prevented that dream, who cradled the kick in fetal position, was Rocky Bleier.  Game over.

Imagine all that from the eyes and ears of a college senior, down on the field with all the action, witnessing the team he loves more than he should ever admit.