Stillers Nation

• Punter – One would think that veteran punter Chris Gardocki wouldn’t have to worry about his day job. But, he is being challenged (for the third camp in a row) by Mike Barr, a former Rutgers punter nine years younger than Gardocki. Barr is not new to Latrobe - he was cut by Pittsburgh in both the 2004 and 2005 training camps. Gardocki’s upside - he has never had one of his 1,112 punts in the NFL blocked, might not outweigh his downside - Gardocki would make $1,088,000 this season, with a salary cap value of $1.3 million, roughly $1 million more than Barr's cap value. With big league contracts coming up for Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, and Big Ben, Gardocki could be in his last year (or worse - maybe his last camp) here.



• Free Safety – The Free Safety position is undoubtedly the most important starting position up for grabs right now. Ryan Clark was the Steelers’ highest-profile free agent signing in the off-season, being lured away from the Washington Redskins with a four-year, $7 million contract, which included a $1.7 million signing bonus. That was April. Today, he's behind Tyrone Carter on the depth chart, fighting to earn the starting free safety spot on the roster left open by the departure of Chris Hope. And, if that weren’t enough confusion, in walks rookie Anthony Smith, the Steelers third-round pick from Syracuse, who makes not one, but two, picks in the pre-season opener at Arizona last Saturday. Smith now is asking for more playing time and should see more action for the remainder of the pre-season.



• WR (#6 spot) – As we wrote about earlier in the month, the last WR position looks like it will be between Quincy Morgan and special team captain, Sean Morey. Unfortunately for Morey, he suffered a minor injury at camp yesterday and will be forced to wear a soft cast during the Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Unlike Morgan, who is solely being looked at for his receiving skills, if Morey is kept it will most likely not be for his receiving skills, but more for his intangibles and value on special teams.



• QB (3rd String) – Prior to last week’s game against the Cardinals, the Pittsburgh media was generally consistent in its reporting that Shane Boyd, who was cut by the Tennessee Titans last year and picked up by the Steelers, was ahead of Omar Jacobs (who supposedly was struggling with the play book). However, it was Jacobs, not Boyd, who lead the Steelers on the only TD drive last Saturday. We don’t know if it’s just us, but Stillers Nation thought the Jacobs was more poised than Boyd, had better control of the offense, and had a better touch on his ball than Boyd last week. Unless Shane Boyd learns how to throw the ball at a speed other than “Nolan Ryan fastball”, his days as a Steeler could be numbered.

# posted by MAC @ 6:17 AM 0 comments

• Green Bay paid Charles Woodson $10.5 million to sign on the dotted line in 2006.
• Carolina paid Ken Lucas $13 million and Baltimore paid $11 million to Samari Rolle in 2005.
• In 2004, Champ Bailey got $18 million (yes, EIGHTEEN MILLION just to sign his name) from Denver, Ahmed Plummer got $11 million from San Francisco, and Antonine Winfield $10.5 million from Minnesota.

Now the question in Stillers Nation is:

Is Ike worth an eight-figure signing bonus?

The answer is to come in the weeks and months ahead. What we do like about this situation is the fact that Ike has backed himself into a corner (no pun intended). He now has to put up or shut up. If he wants to be paid top dollar as he and his agent currently believe he is worth, then he will have to go out and play better than he has thus far (did you see Larry Fitzgerald eat his lunch last Saturday?). We know he led the league in passes defended last year, but he also had a knack for dropping gimme INTs.

In all likelihood, even if Ike has a sub-par season, some other team will step up to the plate and throw out "mad money" to lure him away from the Steelers (i.e. Anwtaan Randle El getting $27MM). But, if he does produce this year (which we hope he does), then he will have rightfully earned the big payday. So, suffice it to say, things aren't looking too good for Ike to remain a Pittsburgh Steeler after this season.

In the wings are Bryant McFadden and Ricardo Colclough, who we should all being paying closer attention to during the regular season, as one of them will most likely be a starter when the 2007 season rolls around.

# posted by MAC @ 6:00 AM 1 comments

(The Burgh – August 12, 2006) – Although the final score did not favor the Steelers in today’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals, there were a lot of first’s and positives that came out of the game, including:

• First game ever in Arizona’s beautiful new $465 million-dollar Cardinals Stadium with a movable field – the first of its kind. For games, the field is moved indoors, and while not in use, the grass field is moved outside to bask in the warm, Arizona sun. Just as impressive was the fact that the Cardinals sold out their first game since 2000 – causing traffic jams around the stadium and a lot of angry fans who missed kick-off and a chunk of the first quarter.



• Big Ben played in his first game since his motorcycle accident exactly two months ago. He looked like he didn’t miss a beat, coming in to drive the Steelers to the Arizona 26 before being sacked on 3rd down, going 3 for 4. Nevertheless, Big Ben threw his first pass, made his first completion, sidestepped his first opposing defender, and took a hit all within a matter of minutes on Saturday afternoon.



• The Steelers’ 2006 batch of rookies, who are looking to make the team and also move up the depth chart, finally got some much needed NFL game time. No rookie had a better game than Anthony Smith, the free safety from Syracuse who was drafted in the third-round. Smith had not one, but two picks against John Navarre in his first-ever NFL game. Not a bad start for the pro career at all.



• Marvin Phillip, the center from Cal who was a sixth-round pick, also played a solid game considering he was thrust into the back-up center role behind Jeff Hartings after Chukky Okobi suffered a neck injury earlier in the week. Not that Phillip played an incredible game, but more importantly, he didn’t make any bonehead plays that are expected from rookies – especially rookies playing in their first NFL game. To his right was training camp surprise fourth-round pick tackle from Hofstra University, Willie Colon. Colon also did his job at protecting the QB and opening up holes for the running game.



• A pleasant surprise was the performance of fifth-round pick, QB Omar Jacobs, from Bowling Green. After all that was said about the kid’s inability to grasp the play book during his first week at training camp, not much was expected of him today. However, unlike Shane Boyd, who Jacobs is battling for the 3rd string QB slot, Omar led the Steelers on an impressive 4th quarter scoring drive, capped off with a perfectly thrown fade pass to tight end Issac Smolko in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown.



• During that 4th quarter scoring drive, the Steelers’ seventh-round pick, RB Cedric Humes from Virginia Tech, also had a sweet 33 yard scamper after catching a screen pass.



• The WR duo of Santonio Holmes and Willie Reid also did not disappoint, although Stillers Nation would have liked to see either of them bust one open. WR Nate Washington also made his first start as a Steeler, filling in for the injured Hines Ward.

All in all, it was not a bad day in Stillers Nation. Next up are the Minnesota Vikings, who will be coming to Heinz Field next Saturday, August 19th at 8:00pm.

# posted by MAC @ 8:12 PM 0 comments

It made Stillers Nation realize why professional football in Pittsburgh is unlike any other city in the NFL except maybe Green Bay, Wisconsin. Here is a tidbit from Mr. Kirwan's article:

"As I stood in the bleachers and watched the buses pull up next to an old steel mill and the players get off with their shoulder pads in hand, I got goose bumps. I was living a dream. For one night, Mr. Rooney and Bill Cowher turned back the hands of time for me and the Steelers fans. I was allowed to take a peek at how it used to be -- and it was awesome.

It looked like the origins of pro football, a steel town playing another steel town at the local stadium. As the players mingled with their fans, signed autographs and took pictures, Mr. Rooney presented one of the game balls from the Super Bowl to the mayor of the town. In that moment, I finally understood why the Steelers are just different from most teams. There's no way the Steelers players could let these people down, and there's no way the fans could ever turn on the team when times get tough."

-Pat Kirwan, from Steelers Turn Back the Hands of Time

He then followed it up yesterday with a second article that provided a solid preview of the 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers, from coaches to players. We know the season is just around the corner, and the naysayers will be out in full-force as to why the Men of Steel won't repeat, but for a few minutes of your day, read both of these articles and enjoy the fact the fans of Stillers Nation are a pretty fortunate bunch.

# posted by MAC @ 6:26 AM 0 comments

• 10 Santonio Holmes
• 11 Quincy Morgan
• 15 Willie Reid
• 80 Cedrick Wilson
• 81 Sean Morey
• 82 Eugene Baker
• 85 Nate Washington
• 86 Hines Ward
• 89 Lee Mays

# posted by MAC @ 5:22 AM 0 comments

(The Burgh - August 3, 2006) - The time is almost upon yunz die-hard Steelers' fans who aren't within local broadcasting distance (unlike yunz truly) to try and catch the Steelers' pre-season games. So, what do you do if you live in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Atlanta, or London, England and have no clue where to go?

The answer is simple: head down to the local Steelers bar (believe me, unless you live in B.F. Egypt there will be one nearby), grab a cold one, and settle in for a typical season of excitement, disappointment, and hopefully another Hollywood made-for-TV ending, including a sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy for the Steelers' Great Hall.

For those of you who are either new to an area, or are visiting another city when the next Steelers game is to be played, fret no more. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an excellent listing of Steelers bars around the world.

Stillers Nation personal favorites include:

• Gabe's Bar in West Los Angeles - Start your engines around 9am on Steelers' Sundays if you want a seat at the bar here. We spent almost 11 straight seasons in this home away from home - even a few with Carnell Lake's parents who would stop by from time to time when their son wore Black n' Gold.
• Ozzie's Bar & Restaurant in St. Louis' Westport Plaza - head to the back room where it's wall to wall Black and Gold.
• Primanti Bros. in Fort Lauderdale. Sun, surf, cheesesteak (alongside a cup of the #1 seller) and da Stillers. What else could be better?
• Big Bamboo in Shanghai, China - just call ahead to see if they're airing the game. 1pm kickoff in Pittsburgh is a 2am kickoff in Shanghai (the lights could be out if you just show up). Unless it's a Sunday or Monday night game, you're mostly like S.O.L. Nevertheless, if you're in Shanghai, this is a great bar to grab a burger and a cold one.

If you've had a great (or terrible) experience at a Steelers Bar, please let us know.

# posted by MAC @ 12:09 PM 0 comments