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With the latest Ben Roethlisberger allegations still going on and the 2010 NFL draft lingering right around the corner, I have been reading and hearing several comments from Steeler Nation suggesting the Steelers should draft Tim Tebow because of his altar boy like image. Yes, I am clearly aware that Ben's actions as of late have not been very Steeler like. I also am aware that Ben has not been charged with any crime. He has been judged already in the public opinion and regardless of the outcomes in Georgia and Nevada, Ben will always wear that scarlet letter right next to the Steelers logo.

Just because Tebow has a squeky clean image and happens to play quarterback is not reason enough for the Steelers to draft him. Especially not before round 5 as most fans are wanting. Even if by some slim chance Roethlisberger were to be suspended for a few games in 2010, Dennis Dixon would be your starter and has earned the chance to lead the team. Also it would not be surprised to see veteran Charlie Batch brought back or even Byron Leftwich should he be released by Tampa. The Steelers do not need a quarterback of the future right now. Merely suggesting the Steelers draft Tebow because of his Steeler like, good character image, is stupid.

After round 4 and assuming the Steelers have addressed several, more important needs in the draft, I could see Tebow as a possible selection, but still a remote one at that. Tebow was a great college quarterback, but so was Danny Wuerffel, another Florida quarterback. Wuerffel was drafted in the fourth round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, but never materialized into a NFL QB and was out of the NFL in 2002. I know Tebow is saying all of the right things, but his path is trending the same of that of Wuerffel.

The Steelers will likely draft a quarterback late in the draft or sign one of the undrafted free agents following the draft as a camp arm, but trying to place Tebow on the Steelers because of his character is a foolish reason.

The Steelers will likely play their 2010 week 1 game at home and on Sunday according to reports. There was speculation they may play the Saints, but the Pirates baseball schedule has become a conflict in the scheduling. If the Steelers opened on the road, they likely would be on the road for 3 straight weeks to start the season and that is unheard of these days.

Steelers president Art Rooney II would not discuss any potential negotiations on a contract extension for head coach Mike Tomlin, yesterday. Tomlin has two years remaining on the original contract he signed in 2006. Rooney only said, "We'll get there when we get there. We think and hope Mike will be a coach here for a long time. That's about all I can say about it."

The Steelers have a pre draft visit set up with Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount. Blount ran a 4.53 and a 4.55 40 at his Pro day. Blount you may remember, was suspended in the early part of 2009 for punching an opponent and angrily confronting fans after an opening week loss.

West Virginia offensive lineman Selvish Capers also received a lot of attention from Steelers scouts during his pro day on Thursday. Capers is considered one of the best offensive tackles of his class. The Steelers reportedly have set up a pre draft visit with Capers as well.

On the flip side, no Steelers scouts or coaching personnel showed up at the Fresno State Pro Day, where running back Ryan Matthews reportedly had a great showing. It could be because they thought they saw enough at the combine so I would not read too much into that.

Steelers.com followed Steelers guard Chris Kemoeatu and brother Ma'ake to their home in Hawaii as they hosts the first annual Kemoeatu Brothers youth football clinic. This is a 4 part series and can be viewed at the links below.
http://www.steelers.com/video-and-audio/videos/Youth-Football-Hawaii-Special---Part-1/
http://www.steelers.com/video-and-audio/videos/Youth-Football-Hawaii-Special---Part-2/
http://www.steelers.com/video-and-audio/videos/Youth-Football-Hawaii-Special---Part-3/
http://www.steelers.com/video-and-audio/videos/Youth-Football-Hawaii-Special---Part-4/

The lawyer representing Andrea McNulty in the Ben Roethlisberger Nevada case may let McNulty talk to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation concerning the Georgia case. Seems both need info to build their cases against Ben. Long ways to go I assume, but this is getting tiresome.

Steelers unrestricted free agent running back Willie Parker is scheduled to visit the Rams today. I would be very surprised if he is signed to a deal before the weekend. In fact he very well could be thinking about a return to Pittsburgh by now.

The Steelers have scheduled pre draft visits with Penn State linebackers Navorro Bowman and linebacker Sean Lee. Illinois wide receiver Arrelious Benn has a visit scheduled as well.

Ed Bouchette's Steelers chat transcript from Tuesday is up for your reading pleasure. Ed addresses a few of the rumors going around as only Ed can.

Art Rooney, the president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, delivered the evening address at the 105th Annual St. Patrick's Day dinner for the Friendly Sons.

Roethlisberger is officially a part of pop culture now as he was included in the season premier of South Park. The episode centered around rich celebrities with sex addictions. As you can imagine, Tiger Woods was the main focus. You can watch the clip here.

The 3rd and final installment of the interview with defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is up on Steelers.com. Bob Labriola discusses his playing days as a defensive back for the Detroit Lions.

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The writing was on the wall that running back Willie Parker would go the way of free agency after the 2009 season. The Steelers had already anointed Rashard Mendenhall the starter and Wille still thinks he has what it takes to be a starter in the league. Parker, however has gotten the cold shoulder since the start of free agency. He had a visit with the Redskins early in March and was scheduled to visit Kansas City before Thomas Jones signed last week. The Redskins since have opted to sign Larry Johnson as well.

Now on Thursday, FWP is scheduled to visit St. Louis. The same St. Louis where another #39 already sits entrenched as the starter in the form of Steven Jackson. Parker surely has surrendered the thought that wherever he signs he will not be the starter. At this point, he likely would just like to have an offer to gauge his value. Now, we do not know for sure whether or not he has received one, but signs are pointing to him not getting one this offseason. Parker is currently the highest profile unrestricted free agent on the market. If no deal is struck with the Rams or any other team by the weekend, Parker will likely be without a team until after the draft in April.

Could Pittsburgh still be an option? Of course it could be. Steelers GM Kevin Colbert has said so in so many words, but it would be for the right price and the right role. Depending on if the Steelers address the running back position in the draft, could also mean that Parker might not be assured a roster spot in 2010, but if he signed before the draft, it would help his chances.

The last and most likely scenario would be for Parker to stay in shape and wait until an injury happens to a starter. There is no guarantee, but as the season gets started, the more desperate teams get because of injury and with no salary cap, Parker could probably demand a higher price the longer he waits. Time is ticking for sure and the road is a bit clearer for a return to Pittsburgh if Willie wants to come back for one more season. I wouldn't throw away those #39 jerseys just yet as the Steelers have been getting the gang back together as of late.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the latest on the Ben Roethlisberger sexual assault allegations and says one more witness remains to be interviewed along with Big Ben. We should know in a few days or so whether or nor Ben will be charged with any crime.

The Steelers coaching staff and scouts are down in Florida for the well anticipated Pro Day of the Florida Gators. Tim Tebow, Joe Haden, Carlos Dunlap, Maurkice Pouncey, Brandon Spikes and Major Wright are the big names getting the pre draft attention today.

Kevin Colbert admits that the free agency fireworks are likely over for the Steelers now, but is not ruling out talks with their own unrestricted free agents, most notably, Charlie Batch and Willie Parker.

Our old friend Joey Porter will be visiting Redskins Park on Thursday, according to a league source to see if he fits the 3-4 needs of the Redskins. Remember that the Redskins new linebackers coach, Lou Spanos, was a longtime Pittsburgh assistant coach.

Kelly Davies, from Access Athletes, has an excellent interview with Steelers second year running back Frank Summers. The Tank hopes to be recovered from a herniated disc and is training hard getting ready for training camp.

Steelers.com has part 2 of the fantastic sit down interview with new Hall of Famer, Dick LeBeau. Make sure you watch all of these as Bob Labriola does a great job on these.

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When the month of March started, it seemed that the Steelers very well might look to the 2010 NFL draft to solidify their wide receiver depth. At that time the Steelers had 7 receivers on their roster with only Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Mike Wallace being sure things. The other 4 receivers at the time included the troubled Limas Sweed and 3 inexperienced, training camp bodies. You could also add Stefan Logan to the list if you really wanted, but for all practical purposes he is merely a specialist.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and the Steelers have added former Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El and 49ers free agent Arnaz Battle. Both signed deals that would imply that they are indeed expected to make final 53 man roster. If indeed they both do, this would give the Steelers 5 opening day wide receivers and one would expect that Limas Sweed would be showcased during pre season for a trade and if not, then released on the final cut down day.

For the 2009 season, the Steelers mainly carried 5 wide receivers on the 53 man roster throughout the year, 6 if you want to consider Logan a receiver. Undrafted rookie Tyler Grisham also saw some time late in the season as well after Sweed was placed in injured reserve. The club has not yet given up on Grisham according to reports.

What does this all mean? For one thing, Sweed as we all know is all but done in Pittsburgh. It is just a matter of time before he is traded or released. Both Randle El and Battle at this point in time should be considered locks to make roster. Battle more so as a special teamer and 5th receiver. This almost assures that the Steelers will not be drafting a receiver in April as well. Many thought the Steelers would eye Golden Tate from Notre Dame or Demaryius Thomas from Georgia Tech, but that just isn't going to happen now. They could sign one or two undrafted free agents following the draft, but even that seems like a long shot right now. The Steelers are set at wide receiver for 2010 and can turn their attention to other priotrity positions in the draft and work on getting Holmes extended following the draft.

When it rains, it pours. Such is the case for Ben Roethlisberger who is now in trouble for a fence that he put up around his house with out proper approval. If only this was his biggest problem right now. With everything going on, it is of no surprise that Ben was absent from the start of the offseason training program that began Monday.

University of Pittsburgh tight ends Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham visited the Steelers Monday. They do not count against the 30 visits the team is permitted to have from college players as they are considered local players. The Steelers are also rumored to have lined up Texas safety Earl Thomas for one of their 30 pre draft visits.

Steelers scouts were present on Monday for the workout of Youngstown State wide receiver Donald Jones. Ohio State defensive end Thaddeus Gibson also had Steelers scouts in attendance on Friday at his Pro day at OSU.

Former Steelers linebacker Robin Cole announced plans for a kickoff party to his annual Father's Day Run & Walk to raise awareness for early prostate cancer detection on Monday. The kickoff party will be held April 1 at the Hard Rock Café at Station Square. Cole's father, Obediah, and uncle both died from undiagnosed prostate cancer, prompting the creation of the Obediah Cole Foundation in 2006.

Monday was Larry Foote day in Pittsburgh as he signed a 3 year contract yesterday. Foote joined Scott Paulsen, Mike Logan and Chris Mack on "The Drive" on ESPN 1250 yesterday and you can listen to the interview below. It sends chills up your spine hearing Foote talk about the possibility of multiple championships forthcoming.

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Foote also had his meet the media press conference as well on Monday and Steelers.com has hosted that video footage for your viewing. It is so good to see he knows where he belongs and exactly what his role on the team will be.

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Just as expected an old friend is coming back to the Steel City as linebacker Larry Foote has signed a 3 year, 9.3 million dollar contract with the Steelers on Monday morning according to ESPN's, Jason La Canfora. The deal reportedly includes a 1.8 million dollar signing bonus. Foote, who will be 30 in June, will provide depth at inside linebacker and will provide the Steelers a proven run-stopper.

According to John Clayton the contract is front loaded with Foote earning 3.9 million in year one. Going by those numbers, the contract probably looks similar to the numbers below:

Year	Base Salary	Signing Bonus	Cap Charge
2010	$3,300,000	$600,000	$3,900,000
2011	$2,100,000	$600,000	$2,700,000
2012	$2,100,000	$600,000	$2,700,000

edited for Catholic school math error.

Carl Prine of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has some what of a time line going on the night Ben Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault. What does all this mean? Absolutely nothing other than Ben likes sushi.

As we reported last night, free agent linebacker Larry Foote is in town today and likely will be signed back to the Black & Gold by the end of the day if things go as expected.

I am not too sure what the Browns are doing, but I like it. They have signed quarterback Jake Delhomme and sent a conditional 2011 draft choice to the Seahawks for quarterback Seneca Wallace. They also traded quarterback Brady Quinn to the Broncos for some donuts or some type of food. Keep up the great offseason work, Cleveland.

Now that LaDainian Tomlinson has signed with the Jets on Sunday, you should finally see our free agent running back Willie Parker get some more looks. It will not be the money he thought he was going to get at the start of free agency and you have to think returning to Pittsburgh is now in the back of his head.

Free agent center Kevin Mawae was unanimously re-elected as president of the NFL Players Association during the union's board of player representatives meeting Saturday. Now if Mawae could only find a team. He would look great backing up Justin Hartwig, but we all know that will not happen.

Steelers.com own Bob Labriola sat down for an exclusive interview with defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau recently to discuss his playing days as a defensive back for the Detroit Lions. Part 1 of 3 is below.

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Steelers Depot has learned that former Steelers linebacker Larry Foote is flying to Pittsburgh tonight to finish the details of a 3 year contract to return to Pittsburgh after one season with the Detroit Lions. If all goes well, Foote will take a physical and sign the dotted line. The deal is expected to be announced late Monday according to sources. Foote played seven seasons with the Steelers and won two Super Bowl rings, but was released after the 2009 season. Foote led the Lions in tackles in 2009.
Edited: We have learned that Foote is flying out tonight instead of Monday.