Amid the pre-screening for local media of the Steelers 2011 highlight video (titled "Heart"), the team announced the narrator for the video, KDKA radio host Larry Richert, will be the Heinz Field public address announcer as well.

It's unique in the sense that when you hear "Roethlisberger's pass is complete to Miller," it will be the same voice that melts through the Steelers' highlight videos, giving each stat announcement a feeling of importance.

Gotta love that, huh?

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Many Steelers fans have been waiting for former LB Greg Lloyd to weigh in on the NFL's current direction of offensive emphasis and general "safety" initiatives.

The wait is over.

Lloyd, speaking to WXIX-TV in Cincinnati while at Bengals coach Marvin Lewis's charity golf tournament (Lewis was Lloyd's position coach in Pittsburgh), minced no words over the matter, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who remembers Lloyd from his "I Wasn't Hired For My Disposition" t-shirts.

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It's pretty safe to say that a huge segment of Steeler Nation still loves the running game. It's Steelers football. It's our identity. If you make any case for why franchise quarterbacks and passing the football are the way to win in today's NFL, you'd probably get five counter-arguments from Steelers fans emphatically stating that a good ground attack is always the best way to win a football game.

"Forget about the trends! It doesn't matter what the rest of the NFL is doing! This is Steelers Country, and here, we run the ball!"

However, it's kind of hard to ignore trends in sports because they usually tell a pretty good story.

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Tribune-Review reporter Scott Brown, amongst others, reported Friday the Steelers released OT Trevis Turner, and signed CB Andre Freeman, an UDFA out of Slippery Rock.

The move to release Turner was likely in part to the recent signing of OT Kyle Jolley, who also looks to contend for the last tackle spot the team will carry with it on its full 53-man roster. Turner would still be practice-squad eligible.

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OTAs start on Tuesday, thank God! We are about to reach our next little oasis in the Death Valley that is the offseason. You would have thought that this would be a particularly slow news week, but there actually have been a few noteworthy developments, including some continuing encouragement coming out Steelers camp. But we begin with...

Jonathan Vilma sues Roger Goodell

New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma received the harshest punishment leveled against a player by Commissioner Goodell as a result of the Bountygate debacle, a one year suspension. Instead of just slinking off in disgrace, Vilma struck back this week by suing Goodell for defamation, creating yet another interesting twist to this ongoing soap opera.

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The Steelers depth at cornerback should be one of their strength in 2012, but it's also one of its biggest question marks.

Such is the way of things for NFL cornerbacks. Every play, hero or goat. Riding that thin line between greatness and ridicule, it is, next to quarterback, the toughest mental position on the field. The Steelers will ride into training camp with one definite starter, CB Ike Taylor, and three younger players vying for the starting spot opposite Taylor - CBs Keenan Lewis, Cortez Allen and Curtis Brown.

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A Forbes Magazine report lists Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin at $5.75 million, tying him with Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt as the 6th highest paid coach in the NFL, and 8th highest in professional sports.

Tomlin, a two-time AFC champion and winning coach of Super Bowl XLIII, is 55-25 in five seasons at the helm in Pittsburgh, most recently, a 12-4 2011 campaign.

He's helped set the bar so high in the legendary franchise, that year, without a playoff win, is seen as a disappointment.

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Mike Wilkening of Pro Football Weekly penned a solid piece on Steelers RB Jonathan Dwyer, and what he's up to this off-season.

From Wilkening's accounts, Dwyer is ready to compete for an increase in playing time, something he hasn't had much of since being chosen six picks before Pro Bowl WR/KR Antonio Brown.

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It seems NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is not, in fact, the judge and jury over NFL players.

An actual judge will be - at least, in the case of Saints suspended LB Jonathan Vilma, who sued Goodell - not the NFL, mind you, just Goodell - for defamation.

Vilma filed suit in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, for, "speaking publicly about certain Saints executives, coaches and players, in relation to purported efforts designed to injure opposing players, made public statements concerning Vilma which were false, defamatory and injurious to Vilma's professional and personal reputation."

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Once More Unto the Offensive Line Breach, Dear Friends

I find it ironic that the amount of in-game and pre-game fluctuation among the offensive line was one of the reasons behind the justified savagery of the Steelers offensive line. Yet, the transfer of Willie Colon three spots west of where he used to be (and essentially hasn't played) has gotten Steeler Nation so excited. I'm excited as well, but looking down the road, it's worth considering the bigger picture and the message being sent.

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