Steelers Talk

[AJHawkfan]

Agreed. Although no-huddle does not necessarily mean going to the run and shoot or anything. The whole point of the no-huddle is to capitalize on mismatches and keeping defenses off balance.

I'm pretty sure that as long as Cowher is around, the Steelers will be a run first team. He remembers the shitty year that was 2003. Stupid Tommy-Gun offense........

[Ohio Steeler]

I recieved this in an email and thought I would post it here for you all to read and enjoy.

You always dreamed you'd get there; though this season I knew,
To play in the biggest game of all; and play it where you grew.

Your parents going state to state; watching you with pride.
Getting ever closer to your biggest ride.

As your pounded yard by yard, to get your team the score
I knew that you were destined
I knew that there was more.

I'll watch you Supberbowl Sunday,
My eyes will not be dry,
As you hold the Lombardi Trophy,
raising it to the sky.

If this be your final season,
be your final game,
I'll still watch the Steelers,
but it just won't be the same.

What a fitting finish,
for the best in the NFL mix,
The future hall of famer,
my favorite and the greatest #36.

- Catherine

[Ohio Steeler]

Originally Posted by AJHawkfan

Agreed. Although no-huddle does not necessarily mean going to the run and shoot or anything. The whole point of the no-huddle is to capitalize on mismatches and keeping defenses off balance.

I'm pretty sure that as long as Cowher is around, the Steelers will be a run first team. He remembers the shitty year that was 2003. Stupid Tommy-Gun offense........

the way I look at this no huddle thing is if it is not broke dont fix it... I just feel we are going to get our selfs in trouble if we change the way the O is run

[BuckNutty]

Steelers tops in NFL merchandise

By Joe Bendel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 7, 2006


If it seems like Steelers paraphernalia is everywhere you look -- even outside of western Pennsylvania -- that's because it is.
For the first time since 1980, NFL-licensed Steelers merchandise is the top seller among the 32 NFL teams. Second on the list is the Philadelphia Eagles, marking just the third time that teams from the same state ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in sales.

In 1990 and 1991, the Los Angeles Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers were first and second, respectively. The league began tracking merchandise sales in 1979.

The popularity of Steelers players such as retired tailback Jerome Bettis, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward and Pro Bowl strong safety Troy Polamalu enhanced the team's image in Pittsburgh and beyond during their Super Bowl title run.

Last year, the Eagles held the top spot, but the Steelers were able to knock their in-state foes off their perch. It is just the second time the Steelers ranked No. 1.

In 1980, the franchise was coming off its fourth Super Bowl in six years.

After the Steelers and Eagles, the Oakland Raiders ranked third on this year's list, followed by the Dallas Cowboys, the New England Patriots, the Green Bay Packers, the Indianapolis Colts, the Chicago Bears, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos.

Sales were tracked from April 1, 2005 until March 31, 2006.

Popular viewing

Last season, 13 NFL games had as many or more viewers than prime-time's five most-watched May season finales, up from 11 such NFL games in 2004). The Steelers participated in five of those games.

Game Date Average Viewers

Super Bowl XL (Seattle vs. Pittsburgh), ABC Feb. 5, 2006 90.7 million viewers

AFC Championship Game (Pittsburgh vs. Denver), CBS Jan. 22, 2006 39.0 million viewers

American Idol (season finale), FOX May 24, 2006 36.4 million viewers

NFC Championship Game (Carolina vs. Seattle), FOX Jan. 22, 2006 35.2 million viewers

AFC Divisional (Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis), CBS Jan. 15, 2006 33.9 million viewers

NFC Divisional (Carolina vs. Chicago), FOX Jan. 15, 2006 32.7 million viewers

AFC Wild Card (Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati), CBS Jan. 8, 2006 30.4 million viewers

NFL Thanksgiving Game (Denver vs. Dallas), CBS Nov. 24, 2005 26.4 million viewers

AFC Divisional (New England vs. Denver), CBS Jan. 14, 2006 26.3 million viewers

House (season finale), FOX May 23, 2006 25.5 million viewers

CSI (season finale), CBS May 18, 2006 25.4 million viewers

NFC Divisional (Washington vs. Seattle), FOX Jan. 14, 2006 24.3 million viewers

NFL National Game (mostly NY Giants vs. Seattle), FOX Nov. 27, 2005 24.246 million viewers

Desperate Housewives (season finale), ABC May 21, 2006 24.233 million viewers

NFL National Game (mostly Wash. vs. Philadelphia), FOX Jan. 1, 2006 23.1 million viewers

NFC Wild Card (Carolina vs. NY Giants), FOX Jan. 8, 2006 22.8 million viewers

Monday Night Football (Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis), ABC Nov. 28, 2005 22.636 million viewers

Grey's Anatomy (season finale-part 1), ABC May 14, 2006 22.599 million viewers

Source: NFL, Nielsen Media Research

Joe Bendel can be reached at joecbendel@aol.com or (412) 320-7811.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_456970.html

[BuckNutty]

Can't say I'm sorry to see him go...

Maddox swings toward pro golf career

By Joe Bendel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 7, 2006


Tommy Maddox swung through the doors of the Steelers offices Tuesday looking more like a professional golfer than an NFL quarterback. And with good reason.
The former Steelers starter said it would take a "great situation" for him to return to the NFL, while adding that he plans to make golf a full-time endeavor.

He also made it clear that the celebrity tour is not in his plans. Maddox, who has a plus-1.8 handicap, is thinking big.

"If you're really going to try to do it seriously, you have to go into the other tours," said Maddox, who was released by the Steelers in March and has not participated in an NFL minicamp, despite inquiries from several teams.

Asked if he would like to retire from the NFL on top, with a Super Bowl title like teammate Jerome Bettis, Maddox smiled.

"That's not a bad way to go out," Maddox said

Sporting stylish shades, a golf shirt and flip flops, Maddox slipped into the South Side facilities to pick up his Super Bowl ring before visiting The Club at Nevillewood to play 18 holes.

Maddox did not attend the Steelers' ring ceremony Sunday. He also missed the team's visit to the White House two days earlier.

If Maddox, 34, follows his golf dream and retires from the NFL, he'll walk away with a Super Bowl ring, the second-best single-season passing total in Steelers history (3,414 yards in 2003) and a comeback player of the year award from 2002. He also had a rocky final season in 2005, during which he was demoted to third team after turning the ball over four times in an overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars and struggling in a later loss at Baltimore.

After his release from the Steelers, Maddox said he had potential employment opportunities with the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Oakland Raiders, but the man known as Tommy Gun is loving life on the links and with his wife, son and daughter.

"I haven't missed a little league game this year," Maddox said, proudly, before adding that he gets to go horse riding with his daughter. "Things are pretty good."

Maddox is wasting little time in his attempts to become a professional golfer. He played in a qualifier for the EDS Byron Nelson Championship on May 8 in Southlake, Texas, missing qualifying for the event by three strokes. At the qualifier, Maddox three-putted three times.

He said yesterday that he has aspirations of playing in the Nationwide Tour, although he is not currently part of the PGA-run venture. He nearly made the cut for a Nationwide Tour event last month and plans to hit the mini-tour circuit.

His impressive handicap is a clear sign that he has the potential to be a competitive pro golfer, according to Dirk Hartman, a pro at Nevillewood. It also helps that Maddox, a former first-round draft choice of the Denver Broncos, has moved to Roanoke, Texas, where he can play year-round. He sold his Pittsburgh-area home this week.

"If he can dedicate himself to golf, he'll make it," Hartman said. "He has the talent and the skill. Some players have false dreams and think they can make it. Tommy's dreams are real. He's crossed the gap. He can play -- and compete."

Hartman said Maddox can drive for distance, but his best asset is his command within 100 yards of the hole.


Joe Bendel can be reached at joecbendel@aol.com or (412) 320-7811.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_456959.html

[AJHawkfan]

Originally Posted by Ohio Steeler

the way I look at this no huddle thing is if it is not broke dont fix it... I just feel we are going to get our selfs in trouble if we change the way the O is run

I agree; to a point. Let's be clear that the plan is not to go to a no-huddle offense all the time, but only in certain situations. Letting Ben call virtually every play at the line (like Indy does with Manning) would be a drastic overhaul. Our no-huddle will be more of an addition; a variation or today's offense.

In the NFL, you must constantly be updating your playbook, adding new wrinkles to keep defenses off balance. If you sit tight where you are, the rest of the league catches up to you pretty quickly - basically overnight.

I look for the no-huddle to pop out one, maybe two series per game this year. Depending on how well it does, you may see it more, maybe less.

[Ohio Steeler]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

In the Super Bowl, Ben Roethlisberger's passer rating of 22.6 was the lowest ever compiled by a winning quarterback.

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Statistically, Ben Roethlisberger's last NFL game was his worst.

But the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl has looked like a new man for the Pittsburgh Steelers this spring.

"He's been tremendous this offseason," Steelers quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple said. "I think he's really stepped up as a leader and is controlling the offense and he knows what's happening."

Roethlisberger's leadership is evident. With veteran running back Jerome Bettis gone, the third-year quarterback has taken charge.

Roethlisberger is also showing off a stronger throwing arm after struggling through the late part of the 2005 season with a broken right thumb.

"The thumb's healthy, and that obviously helps," Roethlisberger said. "My whole body feels good. I feel healthy."

He's consistently thrown 65- to 70-yard deep passes this spring. That's almost 10 yards further than his deep throws in the second half of last season.

After missing four games in the middle of the season with knee injuries, Roethlisberger returned for a Monday night game against Indianapolis and broke his right thumb. He aggravated the injury the following week.

Because a painkilling shot would have numbed the fingers on his passing hand, Roethlisberger played the rest of the season with a protective splint under a glove on his right hand.

"It was excruciating," he said. "I couldn't throw a ball without a glove. I couldn't squeeze it. There were practices where I just had to hold the ball in my palm. It was a broken thumb. Every time I took a snap it hurt."

He won't blame his poor Super Bowl statistics on the injury. After all, Roethlisberger compiled two of his top four passer ratings last season in the AFC playoffs.

But in the Super Bowl, Roethlisberger's passer rating of 22.6 was the lowest ever compiled by a winning quarterback, and the worst of his two-year career.

"A lot of people make a big deal about it, but, to me, we won the game," he said. "Obviously, I did things that probably weren't the best, but I also, in my opinion, did some things to help the team a little bit, too.

"The thing is: I always know I can play better. I'll never be satisfied with how I play. I could complete every pass and have a perfect passer rating and I still won't be satisfied. But passer rating is just another statistic. To me, it's not a big deal. My goal wasn't to have a better passer rating; I wanted to play a better game."

Whipple expects to continue to improve in 2006. He sees the strong arm, but believes it's simply a result of a veteran who better understands the value of rest. Whipple says the improvement has more to do with maturity.

"He's being a consummate pro," Whipple said. "I just think the experience from last season has been definitely a positive one. Except for the confidence, which he's always had, I have not seen anything that would say he's going to take a back seat next year.

"Some people say, 'Well, he won the Super Bowl as the youngest guy,' but that won't change him. Look, Tom Brady's got three (rings); (Joe) Montana's got four; the old Steelers got four. That's motivation enough."

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.