It's been a while, how you been? Good to hear it.
Former Steelers guard Alan Faneca looking back on his Superbowl XL win with Pittsburgh. Faneca retired after an all-time great 13 year career, ten of which were spent manning the left side of the Steelers offensive line. Mostly at guard, but the article reminded me he played left tackle for part of the 2003 season, one of many Pro Bowl seasons for the 26th overall pick in the 1998 draft out of LSU.
Rashard Mendenhall's back to Twitter, as he should be if he wants to. This is a bit odd though, because the source of that info, which is apparently false, is Rashard's Illinois Biography.
The Steelers had the best group of first-round picks in the decade, with two likely Hall of Famers (Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu) along with stars like Maurkice Pouncey, Santonio Holmes, Laurence [sic] Timmons, Rashard Mendenhall, Heath Miller and Casey Hampton. They were also one of the least successful in rounds three through seven, interesting since they have such a sharp eye for top talent.
An interesting look at the recent draft history of each NFL team from Cold Hard Football Facts. Pittsburgh was listed under the "Solid Students" category. As a firm Kevin Colbert supporter, as almost any Steelers fan should be, I'm going to be digging deeper into this topic in the next few days.
Actually, I have. And from what I saw, I could have tore it up. That was, by far, the worst game of my entire football career, except for a Pop Warner game when I missed four tackles that all lead to touchdowns. Seriously, though, it was my worst. I left so much out there. I had five drops, maybe six, and I still had seven catches for 73 yards. Imagine if I had caught the others? But I took some positives out of it, too, it wasn’t all just negative.
Bills' wide receiver Stevie, Steven, Steve Johnson's response when asked if he had watched the game against the Steelers from last year. Johnson really broke out last year for Buffalo, and he seems like a fun guy to be around. One small word of advice Steve, and I'm sure you do not need it from me but, remember you're a football player first, and an entertainer second (when on the field). The two may be close, by they are not the same. Keep getting better, Buffalo needs players like you.
"The first question I would ask (Ochocinco) is has he ever been down in the pen, next to a bull. It's raging back and forth and the bull riders are jumping on that bull and pounding on that rope trying to get that rope tied, and this beast is banging back and forth. To me if you haven't been right there, you're not gonna do it. He won't do it."
Alright, remember just a second ago when I said remember you're a football player first, and an entertainer second? Case in point. I grew up on a farm and we raised bulls, though not rodeo bulls. I've been on them, been kicked by them, and been pinned against the wall by one. I'm all for enjoying your offseason, but this is just dumb in my opinion. No one who has as little experience around animals like this (presumably) should be allowed to try it on a whim.
"The West Coast offense takes time to learn and develop, but we're way ahead of the game by doing this. You need coaches around while you're learning it, but aside from that, I feel really comfortable coaching it and talking about it."
Brown's second year QB Colt McCoy, discussing the three day camp he held in Berea, OH. McCoy showed some real moxxy in his first career start against Pittsburgh last year, and with what appears to be a pretty good draft class coming in, what their new head coach Pat Shurmar can do with that talent will be interesting to see. The consensus opinion on young teams like Cleveland is that the lockout will hurt their development. Between the team and new coaching staff, Cleveland appears to have an uphill battle, at least early on, ahead of them this year.
"Coaching in Baltimore 10 years and then not getting the job, that's a thing that drives me. As much as I respect the people in the Ravens' organization, they never thought I could do the job, and that's a major chip on my shoulder.''
Former Ravens defensive coordinator and current Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan on the Ravens choosing John Harbough over him as the Head Coach a few years ago. Both have gone on to relative success where they were hired, especially for two guys with no head coaching experience in the NFL prior to their hires.