The great UFO mystery from the 1979 Steelers Cowboys game at Three Rivers Stadium has been solved as it was only a kite. The aliens were not coming after big headed Roger Staubach like we thought. Nothing more to see here, move along now. Hines Ward said on NFL Total Access yesterday evening that he wants to play until the wheels come off and that likely means two more seasons if he stays healthy. You can watch the sit down here with Rich Eisen. Hines also participated in the live chat on NFL.com on Wednesday and laid a little smack on Baltimore in the process when asked about his thoughts Read more [...]

Steelers receiver Hines Ward was on 680 The Fan radio in Atlanta for an interview you can listen to and said it's difficult to take big hits out of football and suggests flag football and that the new guidelines clash with the physical nature of the sport. He made it pretty clear that he didn't agree with the new rules. The latest episode of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I talk about the Ohio State mess, the recent James Harrison comments on the new rules and it ends with an interview of Steelers kicker Swayze Waters. NFL.com writers Charles Davis, Jason La Canfora, Vic Carucci, Read more [...]

Pat Kirwan had an article on NFL.com back in 2008 entitled, "First-down success is the key to third-down conversions" and I rediscovered it by going through some of my old bookmarks recently. The article is pretty straight forward with quite an obvious tone. The more yards you get on first down the better the chance you will stay out of 3rd and long or avoid 3rd downs as often as possible. Not really an earth shattering revelation by any means, but not necessarily a measure of success though as you will see in the tables below. First let us start with the 2010 conversion rates like Kirwan did Read more [...]

Steelers Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert was on “Movin' The Chains” on Sirius NFL Radio this afternoon to talk to Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan about the Steelers draft this past weekend. After discussing Cameron Heyward, Marcus Gilbert, Curtis Brown, Cortez Allen and Chris Carter, Ryan asked the thoughts of Colbert regarding the recent capture and killing of Osama bin Laden. Colbert said the event was a great moment for our country, for our President, for our government and our military and anybody that works in the field of bringing down terrorism. Colbert called it great moment in Read more [...]

The latest Hearing from Coach Tomlin segment is up on Steelers.com and Mike Tomlin talks about pre draft visits, the draft process and other draft topics. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians would pass even more if it were up to them. According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, Judge Susan Richard Nelson told the NFL and NFL players that she will impose forced mediation on them early this week. Scott Brown reports that Steelers president Art Rooney II remains "optimistic" the 2011 season will not be interrupted by the league's first work stoppage Read more [...]

Former Steelers receiver Dallas Baker will sign with the Montreal Alouettes today of the CFL. Baker was drafted by the Steelers in the seventh round (227th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft. No, this is not an April Fools joke. In the latest two round mock draft put out by NFL.com Senior Analyst Pat Kirwan, he has the Steelers selecting Derek Sherrod in round 1 and Christian Ballard in round 2. Bob Labriola continues on with his series of stories chronicling the 52 playoff games in Steelers history and the latest is about the 1974 AFC Divisional win against the Buffalo Bills. Mike Tomlin Read more [...]

Scott Brown has the run down of running back Rashard Mendenhall and his support via his Twitter account of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and his analogy between the NFL and the slave trade. I have a sneaky feeling that Mendenhall will soon disappear from Twitter like Ryan Clark did a short time ago. 140 characters is hard to get your point across in. The media loves that kind of stuff. Pat Kirwan has the Steelers taking old man Danny Watkins in his latest mock draft and Steeler Nation heads exploded around the world. I wrote a piece for the haters last night on Watkins and whether or Read more [...]

I was doing some research on 1st round underclassmen cornerbacks that have been drafted over the years and came across this article a few years back by Pat Kirwan on NFL.com. Kirwan looked at the risk involved by position of the underclassmen drafted in the 1st round going back ten years at the time. I am focusing on cornerbacks here, so went right to his risk grade of 2 of that position. It happens to be the highest risk according to him by the positions that received a grade in his article. I wanted to take a closer look using the Pro Football Reference Approximate Value (AV) method that Read more [...]

I missed posting it the other night but Pat Kirwan has a great read on the Steelers defense and what they might of learned from the Bears Packers NFC Championship Game. also two great videos in this piece as well I suggest you watch. Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN has a great piece on Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and his journey to where he is now. During Super Bowl week, the NFL assigns a single pool reporter to cover a team's practices leading up to the game. This was the Steelers practice report filed by Peter King on Thursday. [phpbay]Mike Tomlin Steelers, 3, "", ""[/phpbay] Executive Read more [...]

It should be no secret to you now that rookie center Maurkice Pouncey likely will not play in Super Bowl XLV due to a fracture in his ankle and a high ankle sprain. Adam Schefter reports he is for sure out and I expect Mike Tomlin will confirm this next week as well. Also still not looking good for Aaron Smith right now either. Dick LeBeau was on Sirius NFL Radio the other night and you can hear it here thanks to one of my Twitter followers who recorded it. I will also pop in this LeBeau interview way back from 2 years ago at media day when Steve Mariucci interviewed Coach Dad. NFL.com Senior Read more [...]

NFL.com Senior Analyst, Pat Kirwan has a great piece up on the importance of outside linebackers in a 3-4 defense. Kirwan tells why the Steelers are so effective at re-loading at the position. Special teams ace Patrick Bailey is learning to fly and is working on his pilot’s license during the offseason. Bailey was re-signed this offseason as an exclusive rights free agent and has his work cut out to make the 53 man roster, especially since the Steelers drafted three more linebackers in April. Speaking of the drafted linebackers, Mike Prisuta talked to NFL scouts about their draft-day grades Read more [...]

Teresa Varley writes about how the Steelers offensive line is looking at consistency as being a major goal for the 2010 season. Varley caught up with Trai Essex and Willie Colon for their thoughts. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is expected to practice Tuesday for the first time this Summer since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him April 21. Roethlisberger passed his evaluation, but not much if anything is known about what type of test or evaluation he was given. Two clinical psychologists not involved in the Roethlisberger gave thoughts on what might have taken place during the behavioral Read more [...]

2nd year receiver Mike Wallace joined Vinnie and Cook on 93.7 the Fan for an on air interview to discuss his new role with the Steelers. On Sunday, Ed Bouchette took a look at the role of fullbacks in Steelers history and shows the position's evolution from runner to blocker. Eric Knopsnyder of The Tribune Democrat caught up with Steelers broadcaster Bill Hillgrove in Johnstown, PA and got his thoughts on Ben Roethlisberger winning back the team and fans. Joe Starkey had a rant on Sunday that he has had enough with the Ben Roethlisberger stories. The Sports Illustrated cover piece ought Read more [...]

Another day now and things are beginning to look a little better for Ben Roethlisberger as his accuser is not showing up for interviews and not being cooperative. Looks like she had a little to drink that night as well. OK, a lot to drink. Ed Bouchette talked to former Steelers offensive coordinator and current Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt down at the owners meetings and asked about the mandate he received to run the ball more consistently in 2004. A great angle by Ed on this one. NFL owners amended the jersey numbers system to allow defensive linemen to wear numbers between 50 and Read more [...]

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger does not need to provide a DNA sample to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation because there is no DNA to compare it to. Before you start jumping to conclusions, this really means absolutely nothing at this point. It just means that the DNA is not needed for the investigation. Mike Tomlin cited the age of linebacker James Farrior as a reason the team went out and brought back linebacker Larry Foote. He also stated the move provides flexibility with Lawrence Timmons as well. Look for Foote to be involved in taking on more blockers this year on running downs. The Read more [...]