Teresa Varley of Steelers.com writes about how defensive end Aaron Smith is starting to get back in the flow of things following rotator cuff surgery last season. Smith is a leader that was surely missed down the stretch on defense along with Troy Polamalu.

Scott Brown writes about the Steelers bringing back linebacker Larry Foote, cornerback Bryant McFadden, Quarterback Byron Leftwich and wide receiver Antwaan Randle El this offseason.

Ed Bouchette wrote about former Steelers linebacker draft pick Bruce Davis and how production at a big-time college means nothing when translating how a kid will do against NFL type competition. Denver claimed Davis off waivers from New England the past week and likely down to his last shot.

Hines Ward's third annual Celebrity Softball Game will take place at Duquesne Field in Green Tree on Wednesday and attendance is open and free. There will be raffles for autographed merchandise that proceeds go to Ward's Helping Hands Foundation.

A company formed by former Steelers great Rocky Bleier was awarded a $13 million federal contract under a program for service-disabled veterans, but a competitor is challenging Bleir's eligibility.

I came across a reprint of the January 14, 1980 Sports Illustrated article by Paul Zimmerman that recapped the controversial 1979 AFC Championship Game between the Steelers and the Houston Oilers. The game was unfairly boiled down to one play late in the 3rd quarter in which Houston receiver Mike Renfro appeared to catch a touchdown but after a brief referee discussion, it was ruled an incomplete pass. You can watch the replay here of the play starting at the 1:26 mark.

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Day one was excellent in my opinion for the Steelers when they drafted Florida offensive linemen Maurkice Pouncey. Pouncey fit a need can contribute right away more than likely and is versatile. Day 2 of the draft in my opinion was not as fruitful. They started with talk that the Steelers wanted to move up in round 2. Smoke screen? Perhaps, but one really never knows for sure. Either it was a smoke screen or the price was just too much.

In my opinion things were going the perfect way for the Black and Gold as a few players were sliding down the board. A lot of the fan base was hoping for Golden Tate, the Notre Dame receiver, to be the round 2 selection, but I had good word that the Steelers were not high on him despite a pre draft visit. As it got closer to the Steelers pick, I am sure the eyes of Colbert and company were on free safety Taylor Mays. Mays at one time was a 1st round talent that fell into the 2nd round after the combine. Regardless, I thought for sure a defensive back was the pick with free safety being the preference followed by cornerback.

The pick was announced as outside linebacker Jason Worilds from Virginia Tech. Worilds is a stand up OLB in the NFL, a classic tweener type for the 3-4. In my opinion he looks better in drills then on film. He will not contribute right away except for special teams hopefully. He has a ton to learn and I feel he was a reach in round 2 especially with the needs the Steelers have in other areas. If linebacker was the play, I saw inside linebacker as a better play with perhaps drafting Penn State local, Sean Lee. This tweeners scare me.

On to round 3, the defensive backs were pouring off the draft board early on in round 3, with half of the first 12 3rd round picks being defensive backs. The value was now gone at the position except for cornerback Brandon Ghee from Wake Forest. The Steelers opted instead to go wide receiver in the 3rd as they did last year with Mike Wallace. They selected small school speedster and leaper, Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders played in the June Jones spread offense, but is a north south lid remover that can leap out of buildings.

The Sanders pick now screams that the organization is admitting that Limas Sweed is indeed a bust. I even predicted a late wide receiver like Joe Webb in this draft, but not this early. The Steelers now will almost certainly be forced to carry 6 receivers on the 53 man roster, which in my opinion is one too many. You can also say goodbye to Stefan Logan now it is plain to see. Sanders has returned kicks and will be thrown into the large pile of guys to see who emerges as the new return man. I am betting it is not Sanders. If receiver was the play here, Jordan Shipley from Texas would of been a much better pick here.

Except for LaMarr Woodley and Mike Wallace, the Steelers 2nd and 3rd round picks have not been stellar since 2006. Anthony Smith and Willie Reid were both 3rd rounders in 2006 and the Steelers traded their 2nd round pick that year for Santonio Holmes. Woodley was a 2nd round pick in 2007 and Matt Spaeth was the 3rd round pick that year. 2008 brought us Limas Sweed in the 2nd and Bruce Davis in the 3rd. 2009 brought us Wallace along with Kraig Urbik and Keenan Lewis. While it is too early to throw the towel in on Urbik and Lewis, last year sure did not give you a great feeling about either.

Saturday is the final day of what is considered a deep draft. Hopefully I feel better as good about day 3 as I did after night one. I am going to sleep on day 2, but right now would have to grade both picks today a D minus.

Sports Exchange reports that outside linebacker Bruce Davis is looking much improved and getting more comfortable in his transition from defensive end to the linebacker position.

Steelers owner Dan Rooney was officially confirmed Thursday night by the United States Senate as ambassador to the Republic of Ireland.

Dale Lolley looks at how the Steelers will function without Rooney being around as much.

Former Steelers lineman Carlton Haselrig will fight a mixed martial arts match on Saturday at Mellon Arena. It is the first of four Ultimate Cage Fighting Challenge events scheduled for the Pittsburgh area after the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission legalized the sport.

The Heinz History Center's new exhibit, "Forbes Field: A Century of Memories," opens Saturday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the storied park's inception. The exhibit is part of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum inside the History Center in the Strip District and it showcases rare artifacts from baseball to boxing that span Forbes Field's 62 years.

Former Steeler running back, Chuck Sanders, is listed in Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the top Black Businesses in the nation in the June 2009 issue.

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Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an article on outside linebacker Bruce Davis and his quest to secure a position on the 53 man roster.

The Make A Wish Foundation arranged a meeting between 10-year-old Heather Miller and nose tackle Casey Hampton. Miller suffers from Ewing’s sarcoma cancer. Make sure to watch the videos that are included as Ben Roethlisberger clowns with Hampton for Heather's attention. Steelers.com also has a full story on her visit.

Former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, a Detroit native, was neutral during last year's Stanley Cup run, but this year, he's rooting for the Pens. Bettis says, "Now, I think it's time for Pens to win it!" Are you listening Bill Cowher?

Cornerback William Gay plans to train with starting cornerback Ike Taylor among others in Orlando after the Steelers wrap up offseason practices in a couple of weeks. Gay is trying to earn the starting spot opposite Taylor after the free agent loss of last year starter Bryant McFadden.

Vic Carucci from NFL.com has an article on the many teams that are making notable adjustments on defensive schemes for 2009.

Brenda Franklin, owner of Big Mama's House of Soul, is raffling off her rocking chair autographed by the Steelers. The drawing will be Sept. 10, when the Steelers open the season at home against the Tennessee Titans.

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Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger does not have cancer and does not have a Facebook page. Browns fans are very jealous at times, so do not be alarmed. The internet should not be allowed access to Browns, Bengals and Ravens fans as they do not know how to use it ethically.

Steelers linebacker Bruce Davis snatched up No. 50, which had been worn by Larry Foote. Many of his teammates didn’t realize he was making the change and did a double-take on the field on Tuesday. Geez Bruce, let's worry about making the final 53 man roster first.

Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper and four other police officers who were among the first to arrive in Stanton Heights on the morning of April 4, when a gunman killed three of their colleagues will join the Steelers on their trip to the White House.

Mewelde Moore and Max Starks let Mike Bires know why they can’t wait to meet President Obama.

The International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame announced last week that Hall of Fame receiver Lynn Swann will be the third inductee into the Bowling Hall of Fame Celebrities Exhibit and the first to be in-ducted into the brand new museum to be completed in early 2010.

Funny to hear blabbermouth Joe Theismann blast back on Tony Kornheiser. Personally I could not stand either of them on Monday Night Football.

The Steelers hosted Oklahoma offensive tackle Phil Loadholt and UCF cornerback/return specialist Joe Burnett on Wednesday.

Big Ben will Host the 2nd Annual Youth Football Camp on June 22 - June 24 at Mars Area High School.

Second year linebacker Bruce Davis is hard at work this offseason with a new outlook.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth was charged yesterday with killing a pedestrian last month while driving drunk after a night out at a swank South Beach nightspot.

In part three of a position-by-position Steelers Draft Series, Frank Tursic of SteelCityInsider provides a needs analysis of the Steelers' cornerbacks and the draft's potential answers.

Troy Polamalu is being rumored to be in the running to be on the cover of Madden NFL 10.

Pittsburgh Steelers Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert just wrapped up his meeting with the media at the 2009 NFL Combine. Below are some highlights of his press conference.

On the Steelers finding the right guys to fit the system:

"They have maintained a consistent philisophy of the type of player they want. You had that continuity with coach Knoll, coach Cowher, and coach Tomlin. When you have continuity in coaching, it's easy to match the talent to the philisophy to groom players to replace other players."

"I think the Steelers always look for good players, great people, healthy...it's really a nebulous characteristic. We always talk about the Steeler Way. It's all about trying to do the right thing all the time."

On the Steelers 2008 Draft Class:

"Rashard Mendenhall would have helped us had he not gotten injured. Limas Sweed played behind three pretty good wide receivers and certainly has growing to do. Bruce Davis certainly has a lot of growing to do. Dennis Dickson-We felt that he progressed really well."

On Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison:

"James Harrison has certainly earned that designation. He's obviously an awesome player that helped us get where we got this year."

On free agent cornerback Brian McFadden:

"He is a priority. We understand that we're not going to be able to keep this team together. We will continue to negotiate with all of our free agents."

On RB Rashard Mendenhall:

"He's way ahead. He could've returned at the end of the season, and for the playoffs (if not for injured reserve rule). Full recovery."

On college game adjustemenyts to pro game:

"I think you're going to see that as time goes on, you'll see use of spread stuff as Dennis Dixon comes into the league. Offensive line techniques will be different."

"It makes process more difficult."

Asked about the annual projection process for 3-4 teams looking for outside linebackers, Colbert said this year’s crop is very strong, he also added that cornerback is another one of the stronger positions in this draft. Colbert also had a number of interesting comments on how the growth of the spread offense in college football affects the prospect evaluation process for just about every position on both sides of the ball. He also downplayed the changes we might see in free agency this spring due to the future labor uncertaintity in the league. He thinks most teams will approach business as they always have, although he said “caution” would be the word of the year.

Steelers Inactives

QB Dennis Dixon (3rd QB)
CB Fernando Bryant
T Tony Hills
LB Bruce Davis
T Jason Capizzi
S Anthony Smith
DE Orpheus Roye
DT Scott Paxson

Cardinals Inactives

QB Brian St. Pierre (3rd QB)
CB Eric Green
FB Tim Castille
LB Victor Hobson
T Elliot Vallejo
T Brandon Keith
DT Alan Branch
TE Jerame Tuman

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Steelers Inactives

QB Dennis Dixon (3rd QB)
CB Fernando Bryant
T Tony Hills
LB Bruce Davis
T Jason Capizzi
S Anthony Smith
DE Orpheus Roye
DT Scott Paxson

Ravens Inactives

QB Todd Bouman (3rd QB)
WR Terrance Copper
RB Jalen Parmele
LB Antwan Barnes
LB Robert McCune
T Oniel Cousins
T David Hale
CB Samari Rolle

Steelers Inactives

QB Dennis Dixon (3rd QB)
CB Fernando Bryant
T Tony Hills
LB Bruce Davis
T Jason Capizzi
S Anthony Smith
DE Orpheus Roye
DT Scott Paxson

Chargers Inactives

QB Charlie Whitehurst (3rd)
RB LaDainian Tomlinson
RB Billy Latsko
FB Mike Tolbert
LB Anthony Waters
G Kynan Forney
T Corey Clark
DT Ian Scott