Tag! You’re it!

Silence.

After all the hysterical pre-draft trade speculation, nobody’s talking about Alan Faneca. The Steelers’ front office is silent. The Faneca camp is silent. Even the grubby mainstream media is silent.

Not Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls.

Hey! Somebody’s got to say it!

What?

The Steelers plan to franchise-tag his ass.

What’s that mean?

Along with Minnesota’s Steve Hutchinson, Faneca is one of the two best guards in football. Faneca’s contract expires after the coming season, so before the April 28 draft most people assumed one of three things would occur: (1) The Steelers would sign him to a lucrative five-year extension with a signing bonus in the very posh neighborhood of $50 million, a bar set by the recent contracts given to Faneca’s legitamate peer, Hutchinson, and Eric Steinbach, a journeyman who’s never been All-Pro; (2) Trade Faneca for a high-round draft pick, with Arizona discussed as the logical destination because of Faneca’s pronounced affection for former Steelers’ assistant coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, now in charge in the desert; or (3) let him play out his contract and become a free agent following the coming season.

The fourth option that nobody has discussed in public (that we’ve heard) is The Frachise Tag. In the murky world of Salary Cap Management, players generally hate the franchise tag, and franchises (the Steelers in particular) are loathe to use it. They’re allowed to tag one player per year at a league-average top-five salary for the position.

The club is in control, however, and if ever a situation called for using the franchise tag, this is it.

Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls are not cap experts, so feel free to correct us. But, as we understand it, the franchise tag stipulates that the club pay Faneca at the equivalent average of a top-five player at his position – without a signing bonus. Franchising Faneca would put his salary for the 2008-09 season at about $9.55 million -- a one-year commitment that is fair, which is what the Steelers ostensibly are all about. Unfortunately for Faneca – and we should all be so unfortunate to be in a position to receive a one-year salary of about $9-10 million – this represents getting cock-blocked. He’s at an age – in his prime – where he should expect to cash in on a five-year deal at market price: about $50 million guaranteed, with a base salary starting at $7 million and escalating to about $11.5 million over the length of the contract, with the understanding that he’ll never see the back-ended last two years. That’s why, for the player and agent, it’s so important to nail down that guaranteed money in a signing bonus. That’s cash, baby, and money talks.

And bullshit walks.

If the Steelers have proven anything over the years, it’s that they have little patience for bullshit. And if Faneca thought he was going to push his leverage as a pending free agent, that’s bullshit. He can miss voluntary workouts and min-camp. He can talk sweet nothings about his fondness for Whisenhunt and Grimm. He can pout and bemoan the “direction” the Steelers are taking with new coach Mike Tomlin.

But the Steelers won’t be strong-armed. Faneca’s been a great player for them over the years, and a model citizen. He and his wife have done a lot of good work for charities (including The Epilepsy Foundation, among others) in the community. He’s kept a low profile, never gotten in trouble and appears to be destined for the Hall of Fame. He’s earned his right to a big payday.

He’ll get it, eventually. Not here, though, not unless you count $10 million as a “big payday.” I do, and you do. But that’s beside the point.

Next January, the Steelers will franchise Faneca’s ass and effectively cock-block him for another year. They can keep doing this, by the way, for another two years beyond that. He’s not going anywhere. The Steelers have to negotiate long-term contracts with two other elite players, Ben Roethlisgberger and Troy Polamulu. In the meantime, they can hold their cards close to the vest. You can’t give huge signing bonuses to everybody – so they'll assess their options with Roethlisberger and Polamulu, and wait on Faneca. If his play declines or he gets injured, God forbid, they'll let him walk.

He knows it, his agent knows it, and the Steelers know it.

At the moment, however, to Faneca they are saying, effectively, “Tag! You’re it!”

Draft ‘n ‘At

Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls are satisfied with the Steelers’ new crop of draft picks and undrafted free agents.

Lost in the day-after wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Steelers’ failure to draft a running back was the fact that on Monday they did add a running back (two, actually) among the crop of undrafted free agents.

We predict one of them will make the team. That would be Gary Russell, running back from the University of Minnesota.

Why did Russell go undrafted? Well, for one, he didn’t play last year. Injured? No. Too small, too slow? No, and no. Buried on the depth chart, a la Willie Parker at North Carolina? Again, no.

Gary Russell didn’t play last year because he was ruled academically ineligible.

He dropped out of school.

That took him out of the spotlight and almost completely off the radar screen. So, give the Steelers credit for signing this guy. Maybe they had a deal worked out before the draft.

They must have had competition. This guy was no secret.

When he played for the Golden Gophers during the 2006 season, Ross started only game but split time in the backfield with Laurence Maroney, last year’s number one draft choice of the New England Patriots. Maroney and Ross each went over 1,000 yards rushing, and Ross scored 19 touchdowns for Minnesota, 18 on the ground.

This followed a stellar high school career in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. In Russell’s senior year, he rushed for more than 2,100 yards and scored 29 touchdowns, the same number of touchdowns he scored as a junior.

For more details, check out the “strengths” and “weaknesses” listed in his “Prospect Profile” on NFL.com, which compares him to Dallas’s Marion Barber, who’s a pretty good football player, and also had this to say:

“Russell actually looks a bit like a former Cowboy, Emmitt Smith, as he has excellent explosion and cutback ability, along with that low center of gravity that makes it tough for defenders to attack his legs.”

If anything, Russell reminds us of Kenny Irons, the Auburn running back drafted in the second round by the Bengals. In any case, Gary Russell is an intriguing prospect, to say the least. The Steelers did well to sign him, and we don’t feel so bad about them not drafting a running back.

Which brings us back to the draft.

First round: Lawrence Timmons: Aside from being small, slow, raw and inexperienced, and having Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, what’s not to like?

As noted in this space before the draft, we would have preferred to see the Steelers draft Purdue’s Anthony Spencer, so it will be interesting to see how their respective careers play out. For us, Timmons will always be measured against Spencer and Jarvis Moss (who went just two picks later), as well as two linebackers who went in last year’s draft: Ernie Sims, his predecessor at Florida State, who went number nine overall to Detroit and led the team in tackles his rookie year; and Camerion Wimbley, who went number 13 overall last year and has the look of a mainstay on the Browns’ defense for many years to come.

Second Round: While we are less than enthralled with the Timmons selection, we are very happy that the Steelers were able to add Lamarr Woodley, DE/LB, Michigan, with their second pick. As noted here before the draft – again – we were hoping Woodley, 6-1-1/2, 266, would end up in black and gold … but we figured he’d be gone by pick number 46 overall, so we’re thrilled the Steelers had the good sense to pick him when he was still there. He won the Lombardi Award, the Hendricks Award, and more. He’s a winner, and we expect the Steelers to use him initially in a three-point stance to RUSH THE PASSER off the left edge. Excellent pick.

Third round: Matt Spaeth, tight end, University of Minnesota. This is a head-scratcher. At least, like Woodley, Spaeth, 6-7, 270, won the major individual award (The Mackey Award) for his position as the best tight end in the country, so he’s got that going for him. As for how he might fit into the Steelers’ plans, we should get used to seeing some new schemes now that the Tomlin-Arians era is here. Perhaps multiple tight end sets, with either Spaeth or Heath Miller serving as a slot receiver? We shall see.

Fourth Round: Daniel Sepulveda, P, Baylor. Not to say, “told you so,” but once again we wrote in this space before the draft that we hoped the Steelers would draft either Sepulveda or Adam Podlesh (Maryland). Of course, Ryan Smith over at HeelsSoxSteelers has been trumpeting this pick for months. Like Woodley and Spaeth, Sepulveda won the top award for his position – The Ray Guy Award – which he won not once, but twice, a first for that award. So, we were gratified the Steelers drafted Sepulveda. That they traded up to do so only underscored the urgency of landing this guy after Jacksonville drafted Podlesh, who rated marginally higher as a slightly better technician with no career blocks. Anyway, Sepulveda is a beast who kicks the ball consistently long, with good hang time and down-placement technique. We like this pick a lot, as the Steelers are long overdue for upgrading the play of all special teams. Apparently, Coach Tomlin truly believes that special teams matter, and so do we.

Fourth Round: Ryan McBean, DL, 6-4 1/2, 285, Oklahoma State. We like this pick a lot. We saw McBean play some for Oklahoma State, and he impressed. He’s a versatile guy who should get to play inside as well as outside. Good pick, and good value at this spot.

Fifth Round: Cameron Stephenson, G, 6-3, 306, Rutgers. Maybe a bit of a development project, but the Steelers absolutely needed to shore up depth along the offensive line, and this guy should help. Hey, somebody was clearing holes for Rutgers’ running game, which was among the best in the nation last year.

Fifth Round: William Gay, CB, Louisville. No problem with this pick. The guy comes from a good program and displayed good ball skills. He’ll see a lot of action on special teams.

Seventh Round — Dallas Baker, WR, 6-3, 209, Florida. According to the Post-Gazette, “The Steelers liked Baker because of his size, the fact he started two seasons and was productive for a big-time school and defending national champions.” Hey, for a seventh-round choice, that sounds pretty good.

The Steelers also signed some intriguing receivers from D2 schools as undrafted free agents. Long shots, all, but it’s always fun to watch whether any of these guys will emerge from the pack.

Ah You. Yeah, you.

Sorry it’s taken so long to return from our hiatus. Damn. “A few days” turned into “a few weeks” and now here we are on the eve of the NFL Draft, smack dab in the middle of one of our favorite weeks of the year. Seriously, Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls love the NFL Draft. Naturally, our focus is on the Steelers. Nothing happens in a vacuum, however, and the draft produces cause-and-effect consequences that ripple across the NFL landscape while producing consequences that can change the competitive balance of the league for years.

So, after re-reading our assessment posted March 16 (more than a month ago, for crying out loud), we can’t say that our opinion has changed much. As happens every year, some players rise on the draft board. Others fall. It looks like Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska, is rising on everybody’s draft board, and we’d be surprised if he falls to the Steelers at pick number 15 in the first round. Conversely, Leon Hall, CB, Michigan, seems to be falling and could well be available when the Steelers pick. Like a lot of people, however, we’ve cooled on Hall and have changed our Pit Bull minds: We’d pass on selecting him.

We’d also pass on Darelle Revis, CB, Pitt, whom many pundits are touting as a logical choice for the Steelers. Granted he has all the size/speed measureables, and you can never have too many corners (good corners, that is). But, having watched a lot of Pitt football, our problem with Revis is this: He didn’t make plays. He simply didn’t. He wasn’t a disruptive playmaker. Admittedly, shutdown corners are supposed to be invisible, but, still: He didn’t stick out, and Pitt’s had a bad – no, a terrible – pass defense the past few years, playing against competition that for the most part was weak, to be generous. Remember the loss to the Ohio University Bobcats in 2005? Yeah. Anyway, as for the Steelers taking Reavis? We just don’t see it. He didn’t seem to play tough against the run, you can’t say he was a shutdown cover guy, and he didn’t have many interceptions. He didn’t make plays. Aside from that, he’s great.

So that brings us back to the defensive front seven, which is where the salary cap and roster depth cast a glaring spotlight. Personally, we’ve cooled a bit (but not much) on Jarvis Moss, although ya gotta love the following quote:

“That's what makes you who you are," Moss said. “Just overcoming lots of adversity growing up. Hopefully, teams will see that in the fourth quarter -- when there's lots of adversity -- I'm going to be there. I'm going to play hard to the finish and leave it all on the field.

"The Lord made me like this for a reason. He put me on the football field for a reason. This is what I do. I have a real passion for football. It's what I enjoy. When all is said and done, it's not about the money or the fame to me. I want to go down as one of the greats to play the game. That's what I work for: to be a great football player and to win championships.”

As for Paul Posluszny, we like him, but … although he was consistently great in high school and college, we have concerns about his size, durability and playmaking abilities in the NFL. As noted in our last posting, Jack Ham calls Posluszny “the greatest linebacker ever to play at Penn State.” That’s high praise, indeed, coming from the man who was in fact “the greatest linebacker ever to play at Penn State” and also one of the best in NFL history. Still, we have concerns: Will he be able to shed blocks? Rush the passer? Disrupt crossing patterns? Cover downfield? Stay with tight ends like Todd Heap, Alonzo Gates and Tony Gonzalez? Uh, we don’t know, and we aren’t convinced. We know he’s big enough and has all the intangibles, but still … we have concerns.

Personally, we like Anthony Spencer of Purdue. As noted previously on Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls, we see him as a cross between Levon Kirkland and Adalius Thomas. We believe he would be a truly disruptive force on the pass rush, in coverage and stopping the run. Spencer is the guy we’d take, or …

Or, Reggie Nelson, safety, Florida: The trouble with taking Nelson this high is the salary cap. Troy Polamulu, Anthony Smith, Ryan Clark, Tyrone Carter, Mike Logan, et al, already inflate the cap at this position, so from that perspective, drafting Nelson may not be pragmatic. And you could argue the Steelers are loaded at safety already. But Nelson is a safety who plays like a cornerback, and that is how the safety position is evolving in the NFL. Because the NFL passing game has become so aggressive, defensive coordinators have responded with nickel and dime packages that stress coverage ability. If you can make a case for the Steelers drafting a cornerback such as Revis or Hall at No. 15, then you can make at least as strong a case for drafting Reggie Nelson to upgrade the safety position and simultaneously transform the defense into one that shuts down the deep middle of the field where wide receivers ramble and tight ends roam. I like the idea. This would be a radical move that would vex the likes of Carson Palmer and his corps of receivers on the Bengals, as well as premier tight ends like Todd Heap.

Having said all that, the most glaring hole to fill is on the defensive front seven. And, in the first round, the Steelers should be able to select from a cadre of very talented players (Carriker, Moss, Posluszny, Spencer) to help fill their weakness there, and they may consider drafting at least one or two more players for the front seven later in the draft. We also like (a lot) Lamarr Woodley (6’2, 270), the majorly accomplished defensive end/linebacker from Michigan, but he almost certainly will be selected before the Steelers’ second-round pick.

Another guy we like, but only because of his name, is C.J. Ah You, DE, Oklahoma.

Who? Ah You, who explains his name in the following media interview:

SS: What does C.J. stand for?
Ah You: Charles. I'm named after my father, Charles Ah You. The J is for Junior.
SS: Does your last name have a meaning in Samoan?
Ah You: I don't know, really.

Well, then. That clears that up. Speaking of great names, there’s always Melvin Bullitt, S, Texas A&M, but …

More seriously, other players we’d really, really like to see in Steelers uniforms next year include Tony Gonzalez, WR, Ohio State, Sabby Piscitelli, S, Oregon State, and either Adam Podlesh, P, Maryland, or Daniel Sepulveda, P, Baylor. And, oh, Eric Weddle, S/CB, Utah.

The offensive line needs help, too, but you knew that already.

2007 NFL Draft Preview: Opening Salvo

Our preference for the Steelers, of course, would be one of the guys who will be gone by the 15^th pick of the first round, so let’s not even discuss any of the absolute sure-fire top 10 picks. And, unless we’re mistaken (always a distinct possibility), the following players we like will be gone by pick No. 15:

• Levi Brown, OT, Penn State
• Alan Branch, DT, Michigan
• Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville
• Leon Hall, CB, Michigan
  
• Jamaal Anderson, DE, Arkansas
• Gaines Adams. DE, Clemson

If ANY of these guys is available, take him. They’ll be gone, though.

Realistically, then, who may be available for the Steelers to draft in the first round? … and at a position that makes sense (which eliminates QB, RB, FB, C*, TE, WR**).

First-round prospects who may be available (realistically) to the Steelers:

Since Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls like to build teams from the inside out (OL and DL), let’s look first at prospects for the Offensive Line:

• Justin Blalock, G, Texas – Blalock may be the most highly touted guard to come out of college since Alan Faneca. He should be available at 1.15, but the Steelers’s signing of Sean Mahan muddies this picture, along with the contract status of both Kendall Simmons and Alan Faneca. Also, does Chris Keomatu fit in this picture as a potential starter? Uh, we dunno. So … Blalock is a definite maybe, although conventional wisdom says you don't take a guard this high. Clear enough?
  

Elsewhere on the offensive line, at tackle, there’s a big dropoff after Levi Brown, so let’s just move on to look at other first-round candidates, specifically for the Defensive Front Seven …

• Paul Posluszny, LB, Penn State – Jack Ham calls him “the best linebacker ever to play at Penn State.” High praise, indeed, but does he need to add weight? Can he cover downfield? Will he be an effective pass rusher in the NFL? Will he be able to shed blocks? Still, this could be the guy, but so could Adam Carriker or Jarvis Moss …
• Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska – Described as “an Aaron Smith clone,” this guy may well be gone by the Steelers’ turn at No. 15.
• Jarvis Moss, DE/LB, Florida – He has all the measurables. A fast, rangy, sideline-to-sideline end/linebacker who has shown impact as a pass-rusher. Really, this could be the guy, but he may be gone, too, so you may have to take a look at, say, the secondary, where you can never have enough ballhawks who can cover and play tough in run support. Then there's also ...
  
• Anthony Spencer, DE/LB, Purdue - At 6'3, 266, Spencer is often compared to Adalius Thomas, which is not a bad thing at all. At Purdue, he was a finalist for the 2006 Ted Hendricks Award as the top collegiate defensive end. He projects as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme in the NFL. He's a phenomenal physical specimen, but can he cover? Probably. He reminds us of a slightly smaller Levon Kirkland. Adalius Thomas? Levon Kirkland? Definitely worth considering. By the way, for the Boilermakers last year, Spencer ranked second in the nation with 26½ stops behind the line of scrimmage, (including 10½ sacks). He also caused five fumbles and recovered another while batting away six passes and blocking one kick. Mayhem personified.
  

Safety First

In the Secondary***, the top candidates who may realistically be available to the Steelers are:

• Reggie Nelson, S, Florida – Rangy, fast and very, very intriguing. Selecting this guy, perhaps the top-rated safety, at Pick No. 15 would trigger an entirely new philosophical discussion, which we will get to in a later post. Suffice to say for now the argument has merits. Strong merits. Again, we’ll give this topic a closer look in a few days.
• Aaron Ross, CB, Texas – He won the Thorpe Award as college football’s top defensive back. If he’s available, he’s worth considering. You can never too many good corners, and the Steelers today don't have enough, let alone too many.
• Michael Griffin, S, Texas – Ross’s teammate also is worth a close look, definitely, and he may be even better than Ross. At this point, he probably is.
• Darrelle Reavis, CB, Pitt – Worth a look, but we have reservations. Let’s face it, Pitt’s quality of opponents (weak schedule) works against him. Still, worth a look.
• Chris Houston, CB, Arkansas – Smallish, but blazing fast (4.32 speed). Anybody remember Harvey Clayton? He was smallish and could run, but he couldn’t cover.

The Situation Right Now: Just a hunch, but we believe the Steelers are looking closely at three players: Moss, Posluszny and Carriker, and not necessarily in that order. You could make a strong case for any of them, as well as for Anthony Spencer, who is maybe the most intriguing prospect of the four.

Personally speaking, yeah, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls wouldn’t necessarily disagree with any of them … But if Reggie Nelson is available … well, put it this way: Can you say, “Ed Reed”?

Still, the cap and depth chart scream, "Linebacker."

More on this later.

*C – There’s a head-scratching logjam at this position with Mahan, Simmons, Okobi and Phillip; it’s a mystery and makes no sense at this point.

**WR – Too many other holes to fill. After Calvin Johnson, too many question marks about the other receivers in this draft. Plus, after Matt Millen, GMs who take first-round wideouts in consecutive years will be few and far between.

*** This entire topic (the Secondary) will be covered in more detail in a later post. Be forewarned: Cap implications will be involved.

Today's Birthday: Ol' Hickory

For what it's worth ...

It's the birthday of the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, born in 1767.

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls have always been fascinated by this character, arguably a pivotal figure in American history as a rough-and-tumble president, borderline-illiterate, swashbuckling miltary leader, electoral reformist, and developer/advocate of a form of "Jacksononian Populism" still discussed today. In fact, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., decorated U.S. Marine veteran, author and former Republican Secretary of the U.S. Navy under President Ronald Reagan, cited Jackson in his response to this year's State of the Union Address:

"In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy ­ that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today."

The Writer's Almanac makes the point that, until Jackson, all U.S. presidents had come from distinguished or aristocratic families along the East Coast. Jackson, on the other hand, was born into poverty in the backwoods "frontier," and he received almost no formal education.

As noted, "The Battle of New Orleans turned him into a national hero, and when he ran for president in 1828, he portrayed himself as a champion of the common man and appealed to working-class voters, especially frontiersmen who were settling in the West. The election drew more than three times as many voters to the polls as the previous election, and Jackson won in a landslide."

Jackson opened the White House during his inauguration "to the people," who by news accounts of the time, numbered 20,000 drunks who turned the occasion into utter chaos.

D-Day for the Penguins?

Fatcat Boss BIG ED RENDELL is strong-arming supposedly meeting in last-ditch negotiations with Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and other executives of the Pittsburgh Penguins today in Philadelphia (?!).

Why is it that Boss Rendell LOOKS like a crook cigar-chomping, old-style machine politician? He is? Gee, what a surprise … who would’ve guessed?

The incompetence of our civil servants shady, blundering election-stealing smoky backroom-dealing elected officials is mind-boggling.

Frankly, we’re not surprised, but let’s hope it’s not too late to save the Penguins.

Our blogging friends over at The Dock Ellis Experience today have posted a tremednously passionate column.

Check it out.

They list phone numbers for the whole crooked cockeyed crew (Rendell, Onorato, Ravenstahl, etc.), while imploring all of us to make some noise.

Hey, at this point, it couldn’t hurt.

*Photo/Illustration credit: Stacy Innerst, Post-Gazette

Say it ain't so!

The Las Vegas Penguins does NOT have a ring to it.

Viva Las Vegas

(words & music by doc pomus and mort shuman)

[sung by Elvis Presley; lip-synched by Mario Lemieux and Ron Buerkle]

Bright-light city gonna set my soul,
Gonna set my soul on fire.
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher

How I wish that there were more
Than the twenty-four hours in the day
‘cause even if there were forty more
I wouldn’t sleep a minute away

Oh, there’s black jack and poker and the roulette wheel
A fortune won and lost on every deal
All you need’s a strong heart and a nerve of steel
Viva las vegas, viva las vegas

From Mondesi's House

Mondesi's House does an excellent job describing 79 reasons why it's hard to be a Pirate fan, which was featured as the Pirates' 2007 season preview on Deadspin. Congrats.

Corners, anyone?

Cal’s Pro Day, courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle: Cornerback Daymeion Hughes, whom many have projected as a mid-first round pick (hint, hint), says he tried to make up for a disappointing 40 run at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

“At last month's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Hughes, who said he was slowed by a back injury, ran a 4.65, and most draft experts deemed his stock to have taken a more precipitous fall than any of the other 300 potential picks at the event.”

Also, according to the Chronicle:

“Most of the 30-plus professional scouts who attended Tuesday's athletic meat market at Memorial Stadium clocked Hughes at 4.56-seconds, but he said one scout told him that he ran a 4.47.

"If you play with a stopwatch and start it and stop it as fast as you can, it's like a tenth of a second," Hughes said. "That's the difference in a 4.4 and a 4.5, and I don't see how that plays a very big deal in your football ability."

“No one is questioning Hughes' ability or his production. Before he was injured at the Senior Bowl, he put on one of the game's most impressive days of practice, starting to refute the perception that he'll have to play for a Cover-2 team in the NFL.

"We all care about the measureables," one NFL scout said, "but I'd gladly have him on my team if he falls to us."

Hmmm. Probably not a pick for the Steelers – they have more glaring needs – but, still, you can never have too many cornerbacks.

Hughes isn'even the highest-rated corner this year, but if the Steelers trade down, they could probably pick up Hughes late in the first round or early in the second ("Quick, get Chicago on the speed dial!"), and address filling another need with the extra pick.

Nah, the Steelers have more glaring needs.

Don’t they?

Well, don’t they??

After all, it’s not like Ike Taylor was benched late last year or anything, or like DeShea Townsend is getting old, or Ricardo Colclough is a bust or anything, right?

Right???

Over at Stillers.com, though, CK Stiller (Feb. 22 entry) makes a compelling case against drafting a cornerback in a high round this year, and he’s probably right. We’re confident Ike will be fine, and we don’t want to tie up too much cap money against one position. The O-Line (Levi Brown?) and defensive front seven (Jarvis Moss? Paul Psluszny?) need to be upgraded this year, and it’s not like teams in the NFL pass very much or anything, right? Oh.

Punt!

“Now on the clock in the 2007 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers. And, with their sixth-round pick in the 2007 NFL draft, the Steelers select Andy Lee, punter, University of Pittsburgh and San Francisco 49ers.”

The Steelers essentially are giving the 49ers their sixth-round pick in April’s draft for the rights to sign Andy Lee, the Niners’ punter of the last three seasons.

The Steelers must have figured they’d take a young guy (Lee is only 24) with NFL experience (three years already) rather than take a chance on an unknown commodity or, worse, the known commodity that is the Steelers’ incumbent punter, 37-year-old Chris Gardocki, whose performance last year was abysmal.

Is Lee really an improvement, though? Almost certainly, and nearly anybody would be. How much of an improvement, though? Hard to say, but don’t expect too much.

Lee’s gross average per kick was significantly better: nearly three yards better than Gardocki’s (44.1 vs. 41.3) – but their net average, respectively, was about the same (36.8 vs. 36.7). We have no idea about Lee’s hang time.

Money? Terms of the Steelers’ offer to Lee have yet to be made public. The money is probably close to what Gardocki was to make in 2007 – about $1 million a year – but presumably with a longer contract, say, three years instead of one.

In trying to wrap our arms around this development … and let’s face it, the Steelers’ punting game was a serious sore spot last year … here’s’ some data n’ datta, facts and thoughts:

• The 49ers had tendered Lee a one-year, $850,000 qualifying offer. Because he’s a restricted free agent, any NFL team could better that offer and, if accepted, the 49ers would receive that team’s 6^th-round draft pick in April.
• That’s because the 49ers used a sixth-round choice to draft Lee in 2003.
• Under NFL rules, the 49ers have until Tuesday to match the Steeler’s offer or waive that right and receive a sixth-round draft choice, which is what they used to draft Lee in 2003.
• The 40ers will waive their rights to Lee.
• The Steelers will give up a sixth-round draft pick and use Lee as their new punter.
• Still, Lee’s performance last year, in terms of net average, was only nominally better than Gardocki’s:
• Lee averaged 44.8 yards a punt last season; 36.8 net.
• Gardocki averaged 41.3 gross; 36.7 net.

Then there’s this bullshit statement from Lee’s agent, Eddie Edwards, who was quoted in today’s edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

"In my estimation, he punted in the most difficult stadium in the NFL," said Edwards, who has a Pittsburgh office. "In (San Francisco’s) Monster Park, the wind is unreal. Look at his stats: He was seventh overall in the NFL [in gross average]. You put him in a stadium with a neutral weather pattern, he could have been tops."

Gotta call bullshit on that statement. After all, since when does Heinz Field have a neutral weather pattern??!!!

Lee will be punting at Heinz Field, not Heinz Hall.

Ask Josh Miller, Jeff Reed, Tommy Maddox, Ben Roethlisberger and the thousands of season ticket holders in the 600 level whether Heinz Field has a “neutral weather pattern” … or if it has bitter, swirling winds, especially in November, December and January.

Speaking of which, isn’t it fair to speculate that Lee also benefited from playing six games a season on the road in the relatively benign conditions of the NFC West? … where San Francisco’s opponents include the Arizona Cardinals (paradise), the Seattle Seahawks (generally mild weather) and the St. Louis Rams (dome stadium). By contrast, the Steelers’ opponents in the wintry AFC North include the Cleveland Browns (hell), Cincinnati Bengals (hell) and Baltimore Ravens (hell).

Granted, Lee has experience punting at Heinz Field during his days at Pitt, and his experience punting in San Francisco’s wind should not be totally discounted.

Still. Are the Steelers really making an improvement, especially when you factor in money and the forfeiture of a sixth-round draft choice? Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth round. We’ll see.

There’s one other connection for Lee in Pittsburgh, and that is new special teams coach Bob Ligashesky, who coached Lee when Ligashesky was the special teams coach at Pitt. Clearly, the Steelers wouldn’t have signed Lee without Ligashesky’s endorsement. Let’s hope he knows what he’s talking about, but we have a feeling he’s a goofball.

Finally, there’s another bullshit statement from Lee’s agent, again courtesy of the Post-Gazette, but what else do you expect from agents?

“Edwards said he does not know if the 49ers will match the offer and that Lee was not unhappy in San Francisco other than not being able to reach a long-term contract before he became a restricted free agent March 2. The 49ers have changed special teams coaches this year.

"San Francisco is not displeased with his performance. It was based upon the uncertainty with a new guy (a new special teams coach) coming in and how he fit in with the system."

Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls gotta call bullshit on that one, too: “How he’ll fit in with the system”???!! Hey. He’s a friggin’ punter. Get rid of the ball, don’t let it get blocked, get good hang time, punt toward the sidelines or pin it inside the 20, and give your gunners a chance to down the ball or make a tackle.

It’s not rocket science. It only seems that way to the likes of Bob Ligashesky.

Footnotes:

Yikes! Reportage in the Bay Area is that the Steelers offer to Lee is six years, $7.1 million (an average of about $1.183 million per year).

Fan Forum in the San Jose Mercury News: Keep Andy Lee! And more of the same … plus this comment from the 49ers Fan Forum in the San Francisco Chronicle:

“I would DEFINTELY match or beat Pittsburghs offer for Lee. He has been a great punter and allowed the 49ers to stay in all their wins and especially games with Seattle and Denver. To not sign him would be silly with a punter who can get a suspect defense out of trouble and help them own field position ...a good punter gives the defense hope and improves the offense's chance of success. Punters are usually highly under valued.”

Ka-Chinggg!!!

Well, that didn't take long.

Joey Porter is cashing in, and good for him. Today's Post-Gazette reports the Miami Dolphins have signed Peezy to a new contract, the terms of which include a $12 million signing bonus and $20 million in guaranteed cash -- which is all that really matters -- as part of a five-year, $32 million contract.

Well-played, JP, well-played.

Ol' 55

Sooner or later ...

It was bound to happen.

See ya, Joey, and good luck. Thanks for the years and especially for speaking the truth during the 2005-06 Super Bowl run when you called out the Indy Colts ("They're soft!") and Seahawks' tight end Jerramy Stevens ("What's he ever done?!!").

Thanks also for sustained periods of stellar play and team leadership, as well as for the occasional blips of bombastic comic relief and thought-provoking insights and interviews that make us go, "huh."

For all the goofy shit you'd say and do, Ol' 55, a lot of times you made more sense than anybody.

Good luck to you and your family, and your pit bulls, too, although ... THESE here pit bulls aren't going anywhere. We're hungry.

Oh, and one other thing: It would be overstating the case to say these things come in threes ... but R.I.P. former Steelers Elbie Nickel and Lloyd Voss.

Elbie Nickel, a highly accomplished pass-catching tight end during the '50s, was honored by being named to the Steelers' 50th anniversary team. Lloyd Voss (#65) was a run-stuffing defensive tackle who played in the 1960s on an extremely nasty, vicious and brutal front four that was the immediate predecessor of the Steel Curtain. Although the team's record in Voss's era was abysmal, nobody savored facing that violent defensive front. Voss's linemates were fellow defensive tackle Chuck Hinton (#64) and defensive ends Ben McGee (#63) and Big John Baker (#68 and size 16 shoes).

Rough hombres, all four of them, in the Steelers defensive tradition carried on by the likes of Joey Porter. May the tradition continue.

Links:

Ed Bouchette's article in Friday's Post-Gazette.

Classic quotes from Joey Porter. Check 'em out.

Blog 'n Gold coverage from the Post-Gazette.

Ron Cook: Joey Porter Was a Terrific Teammate

Post-Gazette Slideshow: "A Salute to Joey Porter"

Deadspin's take on the news: Make sure to read the comments.

Just because we can: The Mighty MJD's "Letter"

And, to cap it off, a salute to "Ol' 55"
(lyrics by Tom Waits):

Well my time went so quickly,
I went lickety-splickly out with my old '55
As I drove away slowly, feeling so holy,
God knows, I was feeling alive.

Now the sun's coming up,
I'm riding with Lady Luck,
freeway cars and trucks,
Stars beginning to fade,
and I lead the parade

Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer,
Oh, Lord, let me tell you
that the feeling's getting stronger.

And it's six in the morning,
gave me no warning; I had to be on my way.
Well there's trucks all a-passing me,
and the lights are all flashing,
I'm on my way home from your place.

And now the sun's coming up,
I'm riding with Lady Luck,
freeway cars and trucks,
Stars beginning to fade,
and I lead the parade ...

And, no, not THAT Joey Porter.

THIS Joey Porter, and THIS one, too!

Oh, oh ... We didn't do it! Honest!!

Michael David Smith over at AOL Fanhouse reports another incident of pit bulls mauling a horse to death ... this time a race horse.

Sheej, impressive, not that Joey Porter's Pit Bulls approve of that sort of thing, of course.

Brown ... out

God really does hate Cleveland sports.

LeCharles Bentley, the former Pro Bowl center who was the Brownies’ big free-agent acquisition of the off-season before last, appears to be lost for the season again and may be perilously close to a forced retirement due to a ruined knee.

He has yet to play a down for the Browns, who signed him to anchor a woeful offensive line and counter the strong interior defensive linemen in the AFC North, particularly Casey Hampton, the Steelers’ All-Pro nose tackle.

What Happens in Vegas? ... STAYS in Vegas???

Uh, maybe not. Read about the warrant in the Pacman Jones brouhaha.

Jason Whitlock, columnist for the Kansas City Star and AOL Sports, was in Las Vegas for the NBA All-Star Game this past weekend. He reports general mayhem reigned the streets, casinos, parking lots and “gentlemen’s clubs" all weekend. He also speculates what next year’s NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans might require in terms of police presence military personnel.

Hardy Carr-harr

The mess in Texas continues … no, not that one over in Crawford.

In Houston, the NFL's Houston Texans supposedly want to trade quarterback David Carr, the former number one overall draft pick (2002 draft) by the then-expansion Texans.

The team signed Carr to an extension before last year’s NFL Draft because the Texans thought they … well, who knows what they were thinking?

Drafting University of Texas quarterback Vince Young last April would have made too much sense, apparently.

Ditto Reggie Bush.

But now, when Jake Plummer – Jake Plummer? – starts to look like an improvement at quarterback, the Texans must know they're in trouble. Head coach Gary Kubiak reportedly likes Plummer because, well, the ol’ familiarity factor, since Plummer played under for Kubiak when the latter was offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos.

Anyway, the Texans’ troubles -- and Carr’s -- are well-documented. And, as noted over at Rumors and Rants ...

“The Texans' O-line opens up wider than Paris Hilton's legs after 3 mojitos. He was sacked 41 times in 2006, and that was an improvement over the previous few seasons.”

In the Box, High Sticking

An enthusiastic female fan of Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins expresses her desire for young Mr. Crosby to aim for the "five hole." In hockey parlance, that’s the, uh, open space (?) between the, uh, goaltender’s (?) legs.

Goal. Tender. So that’s what the kids are calling it these days. Huh. Who knew?

Photo is courtesy of Deadspin via The Burgh Blog. Make sure to read the Deadspin reader comments.

The young woman's family must be very proud.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

It’s Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday or, as an old buddy liked to call it, “Fat-ass Tuesday.” Until Easter, depending on your predeliction, Fat Tuesday represents the last opportunity to get Fat, to indulge, to eat jelly donuts, beignets, étouffée, Shrimp Po’ Boys, gumbo, crawfish stew and jambalaya … plus, of course, your adult beverage(s) of choice.

Personally, Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls lament that every day isn’t Fat Tuesday, but that’s just us.

Laissez les bon temps rouler! (“Let the good times roll!”)

“Down south in New Orleans, the prettiest girl I ever seen
Sparklin' eyes, lips so sweet, we make the love to the rhumba beat
Ship's at anchor, my suitcase packed
Got a one way ticket, I ain't comin' back
Life's a pleasure, love's no dream
Down south in New Orleans

“My green-eyed baby, I'm on my way
Back into your arms to stay
I'm tired of work, I want to play
And I love you night and day”

Play Ball!

It's baseball season. Well, that is, if you discount the 9^oF temperature outside and the ice-encrusted snow drifts that had the dogs thoroughly confused and unpleasantly surprised with every paw-step that cracked the deceptively thin and treacherously slippery sheen of ice caked over the five inches of snow on the football field last evening. Step, crack!, leg sinks into the snow, step, crack! leg sinks into the snow … repeat times four, each step, for each dog, and times two, each step, for my own bad self and … damn tiring work. Anyway …

Spring training complexes across Florida and Arizona are emerging from their offseason cocoons, which means we will be talking baseball more and more during the coming weeks and months.

Baseball lends itself to discussion. After all, who says baseball players aren’t just like you and me? Take former Pirates pitcher Jon Lieber, for example. The 37-year-old Lieber, now with the Phillies, has been the subject of trade talk much of the offseason. As noted in the Philadelphia Daily News, Lieber is coming off a poor year and is projected as the Phillies’ sixth starter in a five-man rotation.

None of this seems to be of much concern to Lieber, however, as he drove up to the Phillies’ spring-training complex in a brand new Ford F-650 pickup truck with six doors, a satellite dish and $210,000 worth of accoutrements.

Ford’s off-the-factory-line pickups are F-150, F-250 and F-350, meaning the F-150 will carry a one-and-a-half ton truckload, the F-250 a two-and-a-half ton truckload, etc. So, by extrapolation, Lieber’s F-650 will carry six-and-a-half tons, or 13,000 pounds, in its bed alone, and who knows what it will tow (drag) behind it.

A little ostentatious? Hey, he’s a blue-collar guy, right? He probably needs it to haul stuff around on weekends, mulch and tree limbs and the like. It’s not like he can afford to hire people to do that kind of work or anything, y'know? And it's not like he's trying to compensate for, well, whatever.

Still, lamentably, Lieber has his critics, such as the fine writer at Bugs and Cranks:

“A Ford F650 SuperTruck. 6-Doors, 45-inch wheels(!), seating for seven, a satellite dish and customized leather interior. Now that’s gaudy! I mean, you could theoretically invite six friends over to your truck to watch football games every Sunday. It looks like a Transformer for chirssakes. This is like the Maybach for Iowa farm boys. Kudos, Jon Lieber. A truly ostentatious purchase worthy of VH1’s 'Fabulous Life of …" Again, sorry."

And this, from one of the B&C commenters, BlueMoonModem:

"And the rest of the world hates us because …”

***

So much for Mr. Lieber and his Tonka Toy.

We’ll be following the escapades of not just the Pirates, but all of baseball during the next few months. Over at McCovey Chronicles, for example, you can expect to routinely find highly entertaining writing such as …

“When the Marlins were offering nude photos of (team owner) Wayne Huizenga for (reliever Armando) Benitez and several million dollars, I was hoping the Giants would jump on the offer.”

There’s plenty more where that came from, and many fine Pirates-related blogs to enrich our lives as the weather turns from winter to spring and summer.

Yet another reason to live.

"Say It With Dead Flowers"

A severe winter storm, computer outage and even more severe inertia and lethargy combined to prevent Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls from posting the entry we had crafted for Valentine’s Day.

It’s just as well.

Valentine’s Day was always for other people, anyway. For me, it was usually the day I was reminded that other people do, in fact, do that sort of thing — but only when I’d walk into my favorite neighborhood cocktail lounge in the early evening and see couples canoodling while they waited for their reservations to be called at the overpriced, overcrowded restaurant next door.

And then I’d remember, “Who are these annoying people? Oh, yeah, it’s Valentine’s Day.”

And then I’d go over to the jukebox and play “Dead Flowers” by The Stones.

Oh, well.

Didn’t do that this year. But Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls are glad the extended run of pre-Valentine’s Day commercials is finally over … you know, pretty much the same commercials that ran, pre-Christmas, for overpriced but cheap-ass jewelry store chains like Jared, J.B., Robinson, Zale, Kay’s, J.C. Penney and Sears, for cryin’ out loud, to name the most egregious offenders. At least that’s over.

As Mick Jagger sang, “Say it with dead flowers …and I won’t forget to put roses on your grave.”

Hey! Look Who's Back!!

Emerging from an extended hiatus are the guys over at The Dock Ellis Experience, one of our favorite blogs. Dock Ellis, in case you didn’t know, was an All Star-caliber pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1970s.

One evening in San Diego, he pitched a nine-inning no-hitter … while on LSD. Sure, he walked eight and hit a batter, but otherwise he was seeing his pitches as multicolored laser trails in a zone. And people wonder why we follow sports.

Anyway, Dock Ellis's trippy no-hitter inspired the blog name, The Dock Ellis Experience, and, as Jimi Hendrix said in his song, “Third Stone From the Sun,” “Not necessarily stoned, just … beautiful.”

Besides, we’ve always liked the following rationale, offered at the end of the first-ever post on The Dock Ellis Experience:

“Will anyone read this? I don't really give a fuck... I'm bored and I always read other people's shitty opinions so I thought maybe it's time to give the world mine, so here it is...”

Words to blog by.

Sympatico

Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski, an empathetic voice of reason, writes sensibly about the Penguins' possible move to Kansas City and efforts to arrange for a new arena in Pittsburgh to replace the aging Civic Arena (yeah, we know what the corporate name is now).

Thanks, Joe. By the way, being a Cleveland native, how do you feel about the Steelers?

Anna Benson is Livid

We wonder what poor Anna Benson will do now that hubby Kris Benson will miss the entire 2007 baseball season with a torn rotator cuff. Kris Benson, the under-achieving former Pirates' pitcher who never attained the success projected for him as an overall No. 1 draft pick, once again has come up injured. And we can only surmise the seething reaction of Anna Benson, the temperamental, volatile, publicity-seeking former stripper who seemed to rely on Kris to help her attain the fame and fortune she so clearly seeks.

Think she's going to be happy with Kris shelved, out of the spotlight, sitting around doing rehab? Didn't think so.

With the passing of Anna Nicole Smith last week, Anna Benson seemed like a logical candidate toassume the mantle of high-profile, silicone-implanted, whacked-out celebrity bimbo run amok in the tabloids and other unsavory spotlights. Now, who knows? Maybe Kris's latest injury, however, will provoke her to ramp up her game for exponentially more berserk and provocative behavior.

The following is from the safe-for-mainstream-media Associated Press:

"In 2005, his first full season with the Mets, Benson allowed three runs or fewer in 19 starts. He was 10-8 with a 4.31 ERA, but New York won 17 of the 28 games in which he appeared.

"But the Mets traded Benson for pitchers Jorge Julio and John Maine. There was speculation that the deal was perpetuated by the behavior of Benson's wife, Anna, who has her own Web site and publicly discussed intimate details of their sex life. "Mets general manager Omar Minaya contended that Anna Benson was not a factor in the trade. Anna Benson asked for a divorce in late March last year, but rescinded the request within the week."

The Firing Line: Line Up the Usual Suspects

Well, that hit like a lightning bolt.

Adios, Marty Schottenheimer, who follows his protege Bill Cowher into the land of former NFL head coaches. It's a shame for Marty, who seems like a decent enough guy and has a sterling record for regular season wins over his long career, but still ... he will be remembered for so many negatives: the boneheaded, overly conservative play-calling late in games; the "choker" label; the ignominious 5-13 record in the playoffs; the inability to win "The Big One;" and the scorn and opprobrium heaped upon him by columnists and bloggers, including, but not limited to, The Big Lead and FireSchottenheimer.com.

Not that we dispute or object to any of that.

Actually, after four AFC Championship Game losses during the Cowher era (not to be bitter), some of us Steelers fans understand all of that.

On a brighter note, what a plum job has suddenly come available. The Chargers had the best regular-season record, 14-2, in the NFL last season. The talent on that team is ridiculous, arguably as good as any in the NFL.

So, how long till the rumors start that the Chargers management cabal is courting Bill Cowher to take over the reins in San Diego? Nah, the Chin wouldn't do that to his former mentor.

Would he?

Nah. So, who will take the reins in San Diego?

As Claud Rains, playing Capt. Louis Renault, said in Casablanca, "Line up the usual suspects."