Season 2, Episode 73 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I jump right into the continued offensive coordinator search by the Pittsburgh Steelers along with the news that linebackers coach Keith Butler has decided to stay with the Steelers instead of heading off to the Indianapolis Colts to become their new defensive coordinator. We discuss what Butler may or may not been offered and guaranteed to stay in Pittsburgh to be the successor to Dick LeBeau. Todd Haley and Alex Van Pelt are the latest names to surface that head coach Mike Tomlin might be checking into and we wonder if this Read more [...]

While not totally unexpected and certainly on the horizon for a while now, the Pittsburgh Steelers officially took two punches to the nose on Thursday as it was reported the veteran nose tackle Casey Hampton would indeed require ACL surgery on the left knee he injured in the Wild Card game against the Denver Broncos and veteran backup nose tackle Chris Hoke made his retirement official. Heading into the offseason, Hampton has been at the top of the list of possible players the Steelers will need to cut or restructure to get underneath the projected salary cap number of $125 million when the Read more [...]

Steelers Digest is reporting via Twitter that Pittsburgh Steelers veteran defensive lineman Chris Hoke will be holding a press conference on Thursday to announce his retirement. Hoke played 11 seasons with the Steelers after being signed as an undrafted free agent out of Brigham Young in 2001. Hoke dressed for 114 regular season games for the Steelers and recorded 83 regular season tackles, 2 quarterback sacks and had 1 fumble recovery as he mostly served as a back up nose tackle. He did however start 18 regular season games over the course of his career due to injuries suffered on the defensive Read more [...]

Not a huge surprise by any measure, but there are multiple reports tonight via Twitter that Pittsburgh Steelers backup nose tackle Chris Hoke has no intentions of playing anymore and that retirement is just a formality now. There is no time table set for him to officially make his announcement. Hoke was originally signed by the Steelers as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2001 out of Brigham Young. Hoke dressed for 114 games during his time with the Steelers and started 18 regular season games in total. He is credited with 83 career tackles and 2 sacks during his time in the black and gold. Read more [...]

The questions are rolling in about the Pittsburgh Steelers 2012 free agents so I threw together a quick rundown of the restricted, unrestricted and exclusive rights free agents as the Steelers head into the offseason. The 6 restricted free agents will all certainly be tendered with only Mike Wallace receiving a first round tender. The other 5 will receive the lowest one year tenders. These amounts have not yet been released and I will post those amounts later in the offseason when they are made known. Both exclusive right free agents have no choice but to accept their tender offers and they can't Read more [...]

The 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers Christmas carol videos are beginning to be posted on steelers.com and today the first of four videos is now up. It opens with head coach Mike Tomlin giving Christmas greetings to all Steelers fans. The Steelers defensive linemen open up the carol singing by performing "Winter Wonderland" and Chris Hoke steals the show as usual with Ziggy Hood a close second. They also get help from defensive line coach John Mitchell, but Casey Hampton is nowhere to be found. The tight ends are up next with a very off key rendition of "Sleigh Ride" and the specialist follow them with Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers filled their two open spots on the practice squad Monday morning by signing defensive tackle Elisha Joseph and running back Chad Spann. The spots on the squad were created when the Steelers promoted linebacker Mortty Ivy and safety Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith to the 53 man roster on Thursday to fill the spots of nose tackle Chris Hoke and running back Jonathan Dwyer after they both were placed on injured reserve. This is the second time Joseph has been on the practice squad this season. He was last released on November 2nd. Spann is a running back out of Northern Illinois Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns tonight at Heinz Field as week 14 in the NFL gets underway. The Steelers look to move to 10-3 on the season with a win tonight. The final injury report on Wednesday had 5 Steelers players listed as out and 1 as doubtful, but since then two of those 6 players have been placed on injured reserve in the form of nose tackle Chis Hoke and running back Jonathan Dwyer. Linebacker Mortty Ivy and safety Damon Cromartie-Smith were promoted from the practice to take the place of both Hoke and Dwyer on the roster and both will be active for the Steelers Read more [...]

The Steelers placed nose tackle Chris Hoke and running back Jonathan Dwyer on injured reserve today and promoted linebacker Mortty Ivy and safety Damon Cromartie-Smith from the practice squad to take their places on the 53 man roster. Hoke will undergo neck surgery next week after never recovering from his latest stinger suffered against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Dwyer suffered a foot injury of some kind against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. Ivy has been on and off the Steelers practice squad and active roster this season while Cromartie-Smith spent the entire 2010 season on the Steelers Read more [...]

The latest Sound FX video features a mic'd up Brett Keisel against the Cincinnati Bengals this past week. I love the "hell no, Ced" comment and him telling Cameron Heyward he has never blocked a kick. This is a much watch for any Steelers fan. [phpbay]Brett Keisel Steelers, 3, "", ""[/phpbay] Here is the sit down Q & A with head coach Mike Tomlin as he answers a few questions about the upcoming game against the Cleveland Browns. Former Steelers center, and Hall of Fame hopeful, Dermontti Dawson provided some helpful insights into his personal rules that led to his success in the league. It Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns tonight at Heinz Field as they look to move to 10-3 on the season and inch even closer to a playoff birth. The short week went by fast and the Wednesday injury report shows that five players were ruled out and one player as doubtful. That makes the inactives for Thursday night very easy to predict with the only real choice being the 7th inactive. As I do every week, here is the prediction of the 7 game inactives and a few notes on each of the players. The official list will be announced 90 minutes before kickoff. LB LaMarr Woodley - Woodley Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 53 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I start by looking at the Pittsburgh Steelers injury report headed into Wednesday and discuss the news that surfaced on Tuesday that veteran Chris Hoke will need neck surgery and will be lost for the rest of the season. We move forward and talk about the play of the Steelers offensive line against the Cincinnati Bengals and discuss a few of the offensive snap counts a few players received. Yes we talk about Hines Ward briefly once again. We move on to previewing the game Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns and David Read more [...]

The Steelers wrapped up their on-field practice preparations on Wednesday in preparation to play the Cleveland Browns Thursday night at Heinz Field and the game will be broadcast on the NFL Network. The final injury report of the week is now out and it shows that nose tackle Chris Hoke (neck), linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring), running back Jonathan Dwyer (foot), wide receiver Arnaz Battle (hamstring) and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders are all listed as out as expected. Hoke will be placed on injured reserve very soon thus ending his season and perhaps his career. Dwyer injured his foot against Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers hit the practice field Tuesday for the first time this week in preparation for the week 14 Thursday night game at Heinz Field against the Cleveland Browns. The Tuesday practice was a walk-through and the team was not in pads today. The injury report is now out and it shows linebacker LaMarr Woodley (hamstring), wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (foot), running back Jonathan Dwyer (foot), nose tackle Chris Hoke (neck) and linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring) all sat out today. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said earlier in the day that Sanders will likely sit out against Read more [...]

Ed Bouchette is reporting this morning that Steelers nose tackle Chris Hoke needs neck surgery and will be lost for the rest of the season. Bouchette notes that this could also be the end of the line for Hoke after 11 seasons in the NFL, all with the Steelers. Head coach Mike Tomlin said Monday in his press conference that Hoke was being re-examined by a doctor yesterday because of problems with his neck. Hoke has had problems with his neck after suffering stingers very close together with the latest coming in week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was reported in late October that Hoke Read more [...]