According to the Steelers website, Hines Ward and Willie Parker have found the key to success for any RB who has fumbling issues. The two Steeler Pro Bowlers are showing some tough love to their new rookie teamate. After Rashard Mendenhall coughed up the rock twice last week there is a new way of reassuring this won't continue to happen. Rashard now has to carry a football with him where ever he goes and has to hold the ball in his hands at all times (excluding lunch) and prevent being knocked away by ANY of his teammates. If one is able to get the ball out of Mendy's hands, he owes that player $100, if his teammate is able to return the ball to any of the other RB's Mendenhall has to give up $500. Already Tyrone Carter and backup Travis Williams have succeeded. It's a pretty good idea if you ask me. Mike Tomlin is behind it 100%. As to how much this will work, I don't know. The article doesn't specify how many players can get to him at once but it seems that this may be a way to shut the problem down before it turns into something really bad. So good luck and I gotta a feeling Rashard won't be coughing up anything anytime soon.

Article link: http://news.steelers.com/article/94172/

Thoughts?

PS: credits for my old man for stumbling upon this...

How do you think we did.

Defense looked up to their normal ability, and besides a few mistakes in the passing game our secondary looked alright. marcas13,with all due respect, I think you spoke a little too soon on Tyrone Carter. The guy hunted down Peterson more than once today and had some nice plays in pass coverage.

I'm not too worried on Rashard Mendenhall yet, but the red flags have been taken out of their corner. 2 fumbles is not good but keep in mind, FWP did the same thing last year in that one game who's opponent I can't remember at the moment. Besides at least 3 times he looked he was about to break one for a TD.

I'll admit that I was getting a little worried about LaMarr Woodley coming into this game due to the lack of the 15 sacks I was expecting by the end of the pre-season. Those thoughts vanished when I saw him crush the Vikings right tackle and plow Ferrotte for a sack.

Willie Reid earned the number 5 spot today hands down-enough said.

Byron Leftwich silenced the critics tonight. He looked on even when his receivers dropped the ball. 

Ben Roethlisberger was a little off but I don't think it's a huge thing, it's very rare to see that many miscommunications between himself and his WR's.

 That's pretty much all I got, Give me your thoughts...

Well as we all know, nicknaming a player is a hallowed tradition in the sports world, and Pittsburgh is no different. We already have some great ones; Sivlerback, Big Snack, Big Mac, FPW.  Now who can think of some for our new players.

For this years first rounder Rashard Mendenhall, I've heard a couple good ones. Neither are my creation.

Rush-Hard Mendenhall

or

Rashard "Crush Em' All" Mendenhall

2nd Rounder Limas Sweed has already been dubbed "Real Country" for his rural upbringings in Texas.

Lawrence Timmons is a harder one to think of.

Our "LT" is the only one I can think of.

LaMarr Woodley will most likely keep his college nickname of "The Wood".

What do you think?

First off, I'd like to congratulate our team for the first win of the 2008 seas on. I had the privilege of viewing it from the seats in section 134 14 rows up from the Steeler's sideline.

Also I'd like to say that the Jerome Bettis Grille 36  was pretty damn good. I recommend The BBQ Bacon and Cheese Burger.

Now I'll start with the positives...

Cause for Hurrahs: Rashard  Mendenhall, Limas Sweed, Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Parker, Jeff Reed, and Keyaron Fox all looked good yesterday. Fox especially, who is fighting for a roster spot, looked good in making some nice tackles and one really good coverage play. Mendenhall and Sweed both were in and out during the game but both made some very good plays including one where Sweed took a shot from an Eagles defender and hung on to the ball, and Mendenhall had a couple of explosive runs. Willie Parker and Big Ben really only played in the first drive but both drove the ball down the field with ease. Reed connected on two field goals one 24 yard kick and one 50 yard kick, both were vital to the win. But all of that was seen during whatever channel you tuned in to watch the game. On the sidelines all the players listed above looked just as good off the field. Sweed was over with the QBs talkin' over the plays and schemes. Parker looked charged up and 100% healthy. Roethlisberger looked like a leader, congratulating players, talking with rookies and linemen, and pumping players up in pre-game warm ups. Mendenhall looked eager to get on the field, very similar to Fox's attitude. Reed was Reed and was energetic as he usually is. Hines Ward, though he was barely in the game, was running around handing out drinks to line judges and refs

Overall the players looked like they were ready to lead the team to a great 2008.

The O-Line: starters looked very good on the first drive, only once did Roethlisberger have any pressure and he didn't even see it a fired a strike to Ward far down the field. Off the field the starters were talking with Ben and the coaches. Later on, when Dixon was in, the backups weren't doing anything special but that's expected.

Ernster: was very good, and looked pretty accurate as well.

Concerns: The starters on the D-Line were not looking all that great. They weren't getting the Pass Rush going at all. This could be because of the absence of Big Snack who we all know is inactive. That leads me to the topic of inactive players. To my surprise, both Polamalu and Anthony Smith were both inactive as well.

Of course you all know Charlie Batch is out but also Ryan Mundy went down hard and I haven't heard anything about his status.

Notables: When LaMarr Woodley was in he looked pretty good. Several times he got into the backfield, chasing after the QB only to be held up by an illegal block or a questionable block that looked a lot like holding to me.

Dennis Dixon did not look sharp, but it wasn't a major concern. He's a rookie and doesn't know the ropes yet. He did look pretty good when pressured, using his speed to get away and his smarts to throw the ball away or to an open running back. It seemed the Steelers didn't want to throw too much at him at once and trusted the running game when he was in.

Gary Russell ran the ball a lot, but didn't show any signs of greatness. He got a lot of short gains and was used quite a bit on 3rd downs. Mewelde Moore, who is supposed to be the 3rd down back, was barely in the game. Hopefully this isn't injury related.

Justin Vincent was a pleasant surprise. He didn't have a lot of carries and ran against the Eagles' backups, but he was running hard and with good power.

Eddie Drummond had two great plays; one in which he made an incredible jumping catch of an under-thrown pass from Dixon, only to have it called back on a holding play, and two a 20+ yard punt return.

That's all I've got for now Steeler Nation,

Peace

Well I'm just outside of Pittsburgh using my hotel's free wi-fi. I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow  an I'll get some pics up asap. I'm hoping to see the young guys step up. Does anyone know if Dixon will be healthy enough to play?

Well I need to make this post 75 words  so...

GO STEELERS, GO STEELERS, GO STEELERS...

Haha

Peace

Wow that wasn't enough words either, but now I've got it covered...

Makin' the pilgramige to the Holy City for the first pre-season game!

I got seats on the 50 yard line close to the field, and on the Steelers side!!!

Since I live in NY this is my first trip to the Burgh and I am stoked!

I might even get a chance to check out next Thursday's camp as well I'll be back on the weekend, with a recap of the experience...

Until Then 

Now I'm not one who is really into the whole trading card thing, but the other day, I stumbled across the card and found a misprint. The card, shows the picture of the former Steeler first round pick (1986 draft I believe) in 1990. Underneath his name is a generic Steeler's helmet printed onto the card. The logo on the helmet is misprinted. As we all know the colors of the Steeler stars on the helmet (from top to bottom) go Yellow, Red, Blue. On the card it goes Yellow, Blue, Red, a mistake made by the Fleer trading card company. I looked it up and saw that some misprinted trading cards can sell for up to $500! I can't understand why someone who pay so much money for a card, but hey it's their thing not mine. So I'm thinking of selling the thing on Ebay to see how much I can get for it. It's in near-mint condition and I even laminated the damn thing. I was wondering if anyone knew what the card might be worth? I'll try to get a picture of it, if I can...