Steelers Source

Captain's Patch

The captains for this years Steelers team have been announced, and in this year’s edition there is one notable exclusion in Ben Roethlisberger. Noteable but hardly surprising since his antics will most likely put the Steelers in a serious hole coming back from the bye week in week 6 of the season. Named offensive captains this year were wide receiver Hines Ward and tight end Heath Miller. The defense selected linebackers James Farrior and Keyaron Fox. I thought the selection of Fox was a nice touch for someone who is not a big name player.

NFL Network has reported that the meeting between Ben Roethlisberger and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has concluded, with Goodell reducing his earlier suspension of Roethlisberger from 6 to 4 games for his compliance with the League’s guidelines given with the initial suspension.

In other news it appears that after testing today in Pittsburgh, Bryon Leftwich has suffered a second degree sprain to his medial collateral ligament.  This type of injury is serious and I would expect sideline Leftwich for a number of regular season games. It should be interesting to see if the reigns get handed to Dennis Dixon or if Charlie Batch will be called upon to lead the Steelers for the early part of this season.

Cry Baby

Ben Roethlisberger is scheduled to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell this Friday to discuss the final disposition of his 6 game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. According to reports, Roethlisberger and his attorneys will argue for leniency beyond the 2 game reduction that Goodell has indicated he would provide should Big Ben comply with his terms for rehabilitation.

It is rumored that Steelers president Dan Rooney II will also be present at the meeting to help make Ben’s case. I find this astounding on a couple of levels. First the argument for a reduction is that no other player has recieved such a penalty for an offense in which there had not been a criminal conviction. While true, the NFL’s conduct policy is very clear and was reiterated in a memo that the League office sent to all teams back in April:

“The Policy makes clear that NFL and club personnel must do more than simply avoid criminal behavior. We must conduct ourselves in a way that is responsible, that promotes the values upon which the league is based, and is lawful. This standard reflects the recognition that the conduct and behavior of our players and other league and team employees is critically important. Whether it involves your team or another, these incidents affect us all — every investigation, arrest, or other allegation of improper conduct undermines the respect for our league by our fans, lessens the confidence of our business partners and threatens the continued success of our brand.”

Hard to argue on any level that ol’ Beer Bong is guilty as charged in the court of Goodell. Ben put himself into this position and it sucks for him and all of us that he did it after an 18 month period in which these types (and more severe) incidents occurred all over the League. Commissioner Goodell has the power to impose whatever measures he likes and I expect those will continue to be increasingly severe.  Life is tough and those are the breaks.

I also find it embarrassing that Dan Rooney II would actually participate in this joke, and the slack that he has cut Ben is exhausting for me to think about. First, he didn’t dump him on his can or levy a further penalty. Secondly, he allowed Ben into the Steelers locker room to make his initial comments to the media after the events in Georgia looking hung over in a golf shirt with that ridiculous 19-year old haircut. I think Dan Rooney Sr. was screaming to himself over in Ireland while this whole thing was going on, would have handled it very differently, but didn’t want to step on junior’s toes as he assumed leadership (if you can call it that) of the team.

I could go on for another 10 paragraphs, but I think you see my point. Roethlisberger’s attorneys continue to provide him bad advice and this is just another example, yet Steeler Nation continues to go along for the ride. This meeting on Friday strikes me as what you would get in an argument from an 8 year old when they are grounded.  I guess it is just another piece of the price the organization is willing to pay to win.

I spent last Wednesday on the field for the last day of Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.  A couple of pictures are below and I’ll get some more up once I sort through them:

I’m not going to pretend to understand what exactly is going through the minds of the coaches at this position. I’ll call this list common knowledge:

My dismay stems from the fact that the Steelers don’t seem willing to let Dennis Dixon even compete for the starting job, and have themselves convinced that Byron Leftwich is the man. I must be mistaken, but I thought that is what training camp and the preseason was about. All of the first team snaps are going to Byron Leftwich and Ben Roethlisberger. Unless they are totally paranoid about injuries in the first month of the season, Charlie Batch is the odd man out here.

There was an article on Ben Roethlisberger in the New York Times the other day that is certainly interesting reading. I goes back to his early years, high school, college, and time in Pittsburgh. Quick summary is once a jerk, always a jerk.

Hot off the press is the first part of Bob Pompeani’s interview with Ben Roethlisberger. Same questions, same order as WTAE. Think there may have been a script handed to the talking heads? The link for part 2 of the interview is here.