Today marks one month until the opening of Training camp at St. Vincents, here are your quick hits for the month:
-Mewelde Moore goes to the Colts: I am surprised more Steelers haven’t headed there, Mewelde was an excellent addition and really the first “Tomlin guy”. He was solid asset and did a great job for the Steelers. In the NFL it is “next man up” and the Steelers have Baron Batch who sat out last year and they have 5th rounder Chris Rainey.
-Chris Rainey is of course very interesting, he is so interesting that he could possibly be replacing the Dos Equis guy as the “most interesting man in the world”. I have never seen a 5th round pick get this much hype. Not sure how he is going to play out but one thing is certain, he is FAST!
-The Offensive line is rounding into shape. The interior looks to be its strongest in years with Pouncey being joined by Willie Colon and 1st rounder David DeCastro. The tackle spots are up for grabs and it looks like Marcus Gilbert on the blind side and 2nd rounder Mike Adams on the right. Anything at this point will be an improvement from last season.
-Steelers release Troy Smith. I have to be honest, not sure why, but this bothered me. I don’t understand why he didn’t even make it to camp. The Steelers need to have some young blood behind Big Ben and I thought Smith was worth a look. He reminded me a little of Steeler nemesis Jeff Blake, kind of an underutilized asset that might do some damage in a pinch. The Steelers are going with Charlie Batch who struggled in limited duty last year and Byron Leftwich, who has been out for two seasons, Jerod Johnson will make a bid for the practice squad.
-The first “Mr. Irrelevant” was a Pittsburgh Steeler! The Tag has been around since 1976 and it was Kelvin Kirk (487 overall). Never knew that, but thought it was a fun fact. Kirk never saw the field with the Steelers and there is next to no information on him.
-My awesome Girlfriend KGB got me a Steelers Trivia Book for Father’s day. She did it of course to be sweet, however I have come to realize, I honestly don’t know anything about the Steelers. Seriously, I have been getting crushed with the book. I am going to post some questions on line very soon so you too can feel my pain.
-Keep a good thought for former Steeler Clark Haggans. It is easy to dump on people when they make a mistake which Haggans did. He is set to do JAIL TIME, for a crime that so many people would be guilty of if caught. I certainly am not excusing him, there is nothing to justify dangerous and reckless behaviour, it was stupid and his lame excuse, made it worse, not better but have a little charity for the guy.
-Mail Call is well over 10K I try and answer everything sent but at this point it is just brutal. I will continue to do my best.
-Enjoy the next few weeks off as we are about to engage on the 2012 season!