Mike Adams given pointed vote of confidence by Steelers after trial

As Monday’s pre-draft press conference wrapped up, the last question was about the criminal case involving offensive tackle Mike Adams.

As previous covered, the three men accused of stabbing Mike Adams in 2013 were found not guilty of attempted murder and other crimes, as the defense called into question Adams’ version of the events.  Adams, who was said to be drunk at the time, was argued to have instigated the fight that led to him being stabbed twice.

With Adams’ off-the-field record before coming to Pittsburgh playing a dramatic part of his reported personal plea to be drafted by the Steelers in 2012, this new situation was thought to potentially cause conflict between the player and the organization that trusted him to turn his actions around.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the case, and if the verdict impacted Adams’ standing with the team.  Tomlin, in his typical manner, succinctly answered the reporter, "nope."  And that looked to be the end of the conversation and press conference.

However, general manager Kevin Colbert stepped over the moderator attempting to wrap up the press conference to make sure he got the last word in on Adams.  Colbert interjected with a nice locker room sound-bite of, "I’m just glad Mike Adams is a Steeler."  With that, the press conference ended and Mike Adams was given a quote to play for.

Based on these comments the trial won't have a resounding impact on Adams' future with the team, and Colbert seemed to be giving an indication that Pittsburgh remains committed to Adams.

It is impossible to read much into such a brief interaction with the press, but Colbert wasn’t asked the question – Tomlin was – and to go out on a limb when he didn’t have to indicates that the team wanted to get a message through to the press, the fans, and most importantly, Adams himself that he is still welcome in Pittsburgh and hopefully will earn his keep for the future.