Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor is back home in Louisiana this weekend hosting his annual football camp at Arden Cahill Academy in Gretna and he spoke to the local media there about several topics related to the Steelers.
According to Albert Burford of The Times-Picayune, Taylor said that he thinks that teammate Mike Wallace will resolve his contract dispute soon and be in training camp when the team reports to Latrobe late next month. “He\’s going to be there (training camp),” Taylor said. “They\’ll get it done. When you talk about that kind of money, it\’s not an overnight type of deal. By the end of the day, I think for sure he\’s going to get that thing done. Both sides are working together, so that\’s a good thing.”
This is the second time we have no heard Taylor talk about the contract situation with Wallace, who has yet to sign his one-year, $2.74 million restricted tender. Last month Taylor said on his weekly radio show on Trib Live Radio that he talked to Wallace while the two were together out in Las Vegas for the Memorial day weekend. Taylor said at that time that Wallace was frustrated with his situation. “There is a lot of frustration with Mike right now,” Taylor said when talking with host John Harris. “He wants to be here. … But at the same time he wants his paper. Mike feels like he outperformed his last contract. But he\’s dealing with a monster, and that\’s the Pittsburgh Steelers … they are not going to let you dictate to them on how you feel.” Taylor would go on to tell of the advice he gave Wallace that weekend and it included him telling the Steelers fourth year wide receiver, “Football don\’t need you; you need football.”
The contract situation with Wallace was not the only thing that Taylor talked about on Friday according Burford. He was also asked if he still thinks about the poor game he had against the Denver Broncos in AFC Wild Card round. “I remember it every day,” Taylor said. “People remember you for things you do, and I don\’t want to have that game be what people remember me for.” Taylor of course gave up several big plays in that game, including the game winner on the first play of overtime from quarterback Tim Tebow to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, which went for 80 yards and eliminated the Steelers.
Taylor also talked Friday about the Steelers decision as a team to not ratify the new CBA last off-season. The Steelers were the only team to vote against it because they though that Commissioner Roger Goodell had too much power when it came to player discipline. “Charlie Batch and Ryan Clark really sit us down and let us know what\’s really going on and not just rely on hearsay or word of mouth, or this is what other teams are doing,” Taylor said. “I like to say we have our own mind over there, and it shows.” According to Burford Taylor also added, “We\’re just a \’ride or die\’ team. We\’re going to go 100 percent with our guys. We had a couple of guys who sat down and understood the situation and brought it to the team, and we all made one decision as a team.”
After wrapping up his camp this weekend it is believed that Taylor will return back to Orlando and continue his off-season training under the watchful eye of Tom Shaw, who helped Taylor out at his camp this weekend, at the Wide World of Sports complex. Taylor has worked with Shaw for several off-seasons now.
