2007 Steelers

Don Wassall

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The Steelers signed Jeremy Bloom last week, but only to their practice squad. Apparently Mike Tomlin said something to the effect that Bloom would be unlikely to make the team in 2008.
smiley29.gif



During their playoff loss to Jacksonville, instead of Bloom the Steelers used the legendary speedster Najeh Davenport to return kicks.
 

Van_Slyke_CF

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Perhaps the Steelers`front office should read J.B.Cash`smost recent column to get a better clue as to how to overcome teams like theColts and Pats next season. Letting a sure-firefuture HOF inductee like Alan Faneca go through FA, and bringing in more overweight, talentless blacks to play OL isn`t going to get the team back to the Super Bowl. Big Ben will have to sit at home the rest of the postseason and watch Favre, Brady, Eli Manning and Philip Rivers being protected by talented walls of near-pure whiteness.
 

white is right

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Did anybody notice Pittsburgh signed a local product Mike Lorello? I don't know if he is going to be given a legitimate shot to make the team or if he will be training camp fodder. On ESPN.com he is listed as cornerback.
 

Don Wassall

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Lorello has been with the Steelers the past two training camps as a safety and was waived both times. He'll be going for the all-too-common Caste hat trick this year.


I agree completely with Van Slyke's sentiments. The Steelers have usually been wise about when to let players hit the unrestricted free agent market, but they've generally been black guys whose skillstend to slip dramatically once they hit 30. Alan Faneca is an all-time great still at or near the top of his game. They'll regret not signing him when they could have as an already bad offensive line looks to be even worse in '08.
 

Thrashen

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It's hard to believe that Mike Lorello is STILL trying to make it with the Steelers. He's been trying to crack their pathetic corps of DB's (accept Polomolu) since 2005.

I remember watching him play safety with pure reckless abandon at West Virgina. This guy is a Matt Giordano type player with a feirce and agressive style. He was a great blitzer and always around the ball while in the air, and tackled like a small linebacker.

I'm happy when guys like this don't just give up. Even competing against one of the worst secondaries in the NFL for a roster spot, there is a not a good chance that Mike Lorello will make the team this year (we all know why). If he does make the team, I'd imagine a "Sean Morey" type white special teams demon in Lorello's future
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. At least there is a chance...

Good luck, Mike, prove that ultra-caste-whore Bill Cowturd wrong this season!

MikeLorello_BIO.jpg
Edited by: Thrashen
 

Van_Slyke_CF

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Big Ben said the other day that he would like to have a big receiver for 2008 to go along with an aging Hines Ward and smallish Santonio Holmes.


Fine-let`s draftJordy Nelson and/ortrade for Matt Jones and get him out of Jacksonville.


But, nah,Mike Tomlin will probably draft a tall black "receiver" that can run fast but hasn`t a clue about running patterns or catching the football.
 

Don Wassall

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The Steelers have "offered a contract" to Jared Zabransky that would allow him to compete to be the team's third quarterback in 2008. Big deal. This guy's more talented and athletic than just about all of the "exciting athletic" QBs the NFL and the Caste media rave about, but unfortunately for him he is lacking in the melanin department.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08028/852875-66.stmEdited by: Don Wassall
 

Thrashen

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Agreed, Don. Zabransky is easily the most athletic NCAA QB in 5 years. This guy is similar to Big Ben, but way faster, quicker, but with a smaller arm (obviously).

He also shows up in big games, like last year when he beat the Bob Stoops run model-caste Big 12 NCCA program, Oaklahoma.

I think Jared is too good not to take the roster spot of the ancient, super-overrated, ineffetive game manager Charlie Batch.
 

Don Wassall

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IMOCharlie Batch is a quality backup, sort of a black version of someone like Gus Frerotte, not consistent enough to be a starter but good to have for a few games if you need him. But Zabransky should be given the chance to compete for a starting job somewhere, at least down the line. He has no shot at that in Pittsburgh barring serious injuries to Roethlisberger and Batch. His only chance with the Steelers is if the organization lets Big Ben leave as a free agent, which would seem to be a remote possibility.
 

backrow

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good luck to Jared, i really want to see him do well in the NFL.

on the side note, isn't Batch like 70 years old?
 

Don Wassall

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One of the NFL's finest athletes, one with multiple All Pro honors, is so fat and out of shape he can't complete a series of sprints:


Overweight Casey Hampton sidelined after failed run test at Steelers camp


LATROBE, Pa. â€â€￾ Pro Bowl nose tackle Casey Hampton was placed on the physically unable to perform list Sunday after reporting to training camp overweight and failing to complete the Pittsburgh Steelers' annual run test.


Hampton, listed at 325 pounds but apparently much heavier, lagged 30 yards behind defensive end Brett Keisel during one of eight 100-yard sprints. Hampton completed only five.


"He's overweight and he's not conditioned enough to participate at this point," coach Mike Tomlin said.


There was no Kendrell Bell to bail Hampton out this time, either.


When a similarly out-of-shape Hampton couldn't complete several of the 14 40-yard sprints the Steelers ran when Bill Cowher was coach, Bell jumped in and ran two sprints for him in 2003. Hampton recovered to make the final run that summer, though Cowher was visibly displeased and held Hampton out of practice until he was in better shape.


Hampton won't be allowed to practise in this camp until he drops weight, and Tomlin suggested that will take more than a few days.


Hampton, starting his eighth NFL season, skipped the Steelers' optional team practices last spring to work out on his own. He explained Sunday that his absence was to take care of personal business and not because he had any issue with the team.


"I wasn't trying to make any statement," Hampton said.


Tomlin didn't like the one he made during the running test as Hampton was the only player who couldn't finish. Some players who attended a certain number of voluntary team workouts were allowed to skip the tests as a reward for their attendance.


"It's not about (missing the voluntary practices)," Tomlin said of Hampton. "It's about coming to camp ready to play football."


Star safety Troy Polamalu (hamstring) and left guard Chris Kemoeatu (triceps) also were placed on the physically unable to perform list, yet Polamalu still completed the running test. Polamalu was injured while working out on his own, and Kemoeatu - All-Pro guard Alan Faneca's apparent replacement - was hurt lifting weights in advance of camp. Neither injury is believed to be serious.


Hampton has had an ongoing battle with his weight since being a first-round draft pick in 2001, yet has made the last three Pro Bowls and has played in the NFL's annual all-star game in four of the last five seasons. Hampton also was chosen as the team's co-most valuable player in 2005.


Hampton's ability to stop the run is one of the keys to the Steelers' 3-4 defence.


Asked when Hampton will be in good enough shape to practice, Tomlin said, "I'll determine that."


[url]http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i4Ao4MI7rnVmuy jvMJsZzEMZT-CQ[/url]
 

Van_Slyke_CF

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Don,

My understanding is that the linemen really don`t even have to sprint, but just finish each run. Hampton was unable to jog 100 yards 8 times.

Do you know how much rest they get in between each run?
 

Don Wassall

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Yeah, calling them "sprints," at least as far as when the sumos line up to run them,is a stretch. It varies on the coaching regime as to how much rest they get between each one. My guess is that the league's overachieving white minority does disproportionately well in these and other conditioning drills.


When Hampton missed most of the season three years ago, Chris Hoke stepped in and did a great job. He can stuff the middle but he is also an athlete who can actually move and apply pressure on the quarterback as well. But there was never any controversy about him keeping the job once the "perennial All Pro" Hampton was healthy again.
 
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