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Perhaps Seahawks quarterback, and former Steelers training camp participant, Jerrod Johnson can buy Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley a beer sometime.
Johnson, now competing against Brady Quinn and Josh Portis for the Seahawks backup quarterback position behind Russell Wilson, gives some indirect credit to the Steelers and Haley for helping change his grip on the football and his throwing motion.
Patriots work out former Steelers LB Johnson
Gone is the nearly 3/4 sidearm-ish delivery he used at Texas A&M.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has been impressed, as he noetd to Seattle Times writer Jayson Jenks. Writes Jenks, "The biggest change to Johnson's throwing motion, at least to the naked eye, is the placement of his elbow. In college Johnson often slung the ball from a low release point, almost sidearm, but he spent seven months retooling his motion before joining the Steelers last year. Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley also changed Johnson's grip."
Johnson lost the training camp battle he had with Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch last season. He spent the year out of football, and used that time to work on his mechanics, and even give writing a shot.
Needless to say, he throws a bone to the difficulty of being a lowly, ink-stained wretch.
"I don't know about writing, but I wouldn't mind being an on-TV personality," he said. "As far as the writing part, there's too much editing for me."
That refreshes his status as a training camp cult hero, and we wish he makes the Seahawks roster, certainly over Brady Quinn, who, to our knowledge, never expressed the challenges of writing for a living.