Here is Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s press conference on the upcoming game against the San Diego Chargers.
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Today’s practice started out with a big crowd, but most left when the skies opened up and it started raining cats and dogs.
Since it was raining so much, I didn’t get to take as many notes as I normally would (my notebook got soaked). I couldn’t take as many pictures either. But here are my top 10 observations from Day 3 (Sunday August 2, 2009).
1) Hines Ward did not practice today. I don’t know if he was injured or if coach Tomlin is just giving him a rest. However, he wasn’t in pads. He just had on shorts and a t-shirt. He was wearing a baseball cap turned backwards.
2) If you ever wondered if the Steelers practice in the rain, the answer is “yes”. It started raining really hard in the middle of practice. A few of the players started to leave the field. Someone on the field yelled that they saw lightning. Coach Mike Tomlin yelled back “We play games in the rain in the NFL”, and that was that. Nobody left the field, and practice proceeded as usual.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I absolutely love the control that Mike Tomlin exercises over his team. He absolutely will not let them lose focus. It definitely inspires confidence in me as a fan that the Steelers will not become distracted for any reason.
3) Dan Sepulveda is back!!!! If there were any question about how Dan Sepulveda is healing from his injury/surgery from last season, let me put your mind at rest. Sepulveda is back 100%!!!!!! I actually asked Sepulveda how he was feeling yesterday, and he told me 100%. However, I needed to see it myself.
Today Sepulveda punted for the first time at open practice. He boomed punts that all seemed to hang in the air for 6 seconds (no exaggeration). He probably made 10 punts. The shortest one went 47 yards in the air. The longest one went 67 yards in the air. There was a slight wind at his back, but still, 67 yards is awesome. By the way, did I mention that it was 67 yards in the rain?
4) Mike Wallace is fast. He got behind the entire defense for a long reception from Big Ben. He beat the defenders so badly that it looked like Tom Brady to Randy Moss.
5) Don’t ignore Piotr Czech. Jeff Reed is an amazing kicker, and I hope the Steelers sign him to an extension. However, today at practice Piotr Czech got to kick field goals. He started with an extra point, and then moved back 5 yards on each successive kick. He never missed. The coaches stopped the drill after he hit a 55 yarder. Frankly, I wanted to see him attempt a 60 yarder.
6) Ziggy Hood beat Kraig Urbick twice in a row in one-on-one drills. He looked like he totally outclassed Urbick. However, Urbick stopped him cold on the third try, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
7) Martin Nance drops too many catchable balls. I know that he was Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite receiver at Miami of Ohio, but I just can’t see him making this team.
8) Limas Sweed is showing good signs. Limas made several pretty catches, including a nice diving catch by the sidelines that made the crowd go wild. However, Limas also had some drops that drew a few jeers from the crowd.
9) I like the way Mike Tomlin lets his assistants do their job. Each Assistant runs practice for their particular unit. Tomlin then circulates through the units and watches what they’re doing. At each unit, he singles out a player and shouts encouragement to him. When he got to the tight ends, he yelled out “C’mon DJ, show me something. Show me what you got, DJ”. He was referring to rookie tight end David Johnson.
I noticed that when Tomlin is watching a particular unit, the players go at it just a little bit harder. The wide receivers in particular tend to dive for balls that they would have let fall to the ground if Tomlin weren’t watching. The running backs also seem to hit the holes harder when Tomlin is watching.
10) Frank “the tank” Summers is already a fan favorite. Practice ended today when Summers had a violent (and loud) collision with a defender on a running play. Summers didn’t win this one. He got knocked on his back. I couldn’t see who the defender was, but those around me said that his number ended in a “5″. They thought it was either Patrick Bailey (#55) or Donovan Woods (#95). The play drew ooohs and ahhhs from both fans and other players on the field. It looked like a fight was going to break out, and I saw coaches jump in. Tempers cooled, and practice ended.
#44 Frank "the tank" Summers
Note: I was wrong about the hit on Frank Summers yesterday. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it was Willie Gay who put the big hit on Summers. In fact, he knocked Summers down with the hit. Read about it here.
If you haven’t already read our coverage of Day #2, please click below:
Notes from Steelers training camp Day 2
Also see our coverage of Day 4 by clicking here.
Today’s Featured Item: Steelers Black-White 6-Time Super Bowl Champion Varsity Jacket
Buy the best Steelers gear right here at Steelers Today. We search for the coolest Steelers gear that we can find, and then we present it to our fellow Steelers fans. Check out this great 6-time Super Bowl Champion varsity jacket. Feel proud knowing you are letting all of those Ravens, Browns, and Cowboys fans know which team is REALLY king of the hill. Click below to purchase.
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Tune in tomorrow for Steelers 2008: The Year in Pictures (Part 3)
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I know that most NFL bloggers are now focusing their attention on the NFL Combine, and the upcoming draft. I’ll start talking about those things soon enough, but right now, I still want to hold onto the joy of the Steelers’ spectacular 2008 season.
Over the next several days, I will be presenting one final look at the season that was. From the highs to the lows, and everything in between. From the 2008 NFL draft, to training camp, the regular season, the playoffs, and the Super Bowl, we’ll revisit all of it.
Steelers Today presents the 2008 season in pictures.
Tune in tomorrow for Steelers 2008: The Year in Pictures (Part 2)
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February 22, 2009
By Donald Starver
This week I was reminded once again why we, as Steelers fans, are a very fortunate bunch.
The Steelers have been one of the most successful organizations in the NFL for the past 40 years. They have won more Super Bowls than any other team. Moreover, even when they don’t win the Super Bowl, they are almost always in the playoffs.
Sure, we’ve had down years (e.g. the Cliff Stoudt years), but for the most part, the Steelers are almost always competitive. Even when they don’t make the playoffs or win their division, the Steelers rarely embarrass their fans. And unlike teams like the Cincinnati Bengals (Bungles), Detroit Lions, and Oakland Raiders, the Steelers are NEVER the butt of jokes.
Contrast that with the other team that vies for the title of “most popular team in the NFL”, the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys (along with the 49ers) have won the next most Super Bowls in NFL history (5 Super Bowl championships). They were once given the title “America’s team”. Yet, in their recent history, the Cowboys have given their fans little to be proud of. America’s team? Many Cowboys fans wish they weren’t Dallas’ team.
The Cowboys may be the biggest band of underachievers in the NFL. Each of the past two years, the Cowboys have had twice as many Pro Bowl players as the Steelers. In 2008, the Cowboys had 12 of their players in the Pro Bowl, while the Steelers had only 6. This year, the Cowboys had 6 Pro Bowl players compared to the Steelers’ 3. Yet despite their star-studded roster, the Cowboys have achieved little. They haven’t won a playoff game in over a decade (since December 28, 1996). They failed to even qualify for the playoffs this year. Meanwhile, this year’s Steelers team, which had the toughest schedule in the NFL and included only 3 Pro Bowl players, managed to win the Super Bowl.
Since 1990, the Cowboys have had six different coaches (Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Bill Parcells, and Wade Phillips. None of them lasted more than 4 years. The Steelers have had two coaches during that same period.
The Cowboys are known for signing troubled players. Terrell Owens, Pacman Jones, and Tank Johnson were all welcomed with open arms by Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones. None of those players would have been welcomed by the Steelers, where character is just as important as talent.
The Cowboys are like a soap opera. The most important news stories about them usually stem from their off-field exploits. Terrell Owens doesn’t think he’s getting the ball enough (surprise, surprise). Pacman Jones gets into trouble at a strip club. Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson are breaking up. Terrell Owens doesn’t like his coaches. Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson are back together. Jerry Jones calls Marion Barber “soft”. Pacman Jones gets into trouble at a strip club. Business as usual with the Dallas Cowboys.
Now, Jerry Jones has added another storyline to the Cowboys’ soap opera. Jones has placed a gag order on his coaches. They are not allowed to talk about Cowboys affairs to the media. Only Jones himself is allowed to make public statements pertaining to the Cowboys.
Can you imagine that? The head coach is not allowed to talk about the team. Totally bizarre.
When reporters in Indianapolis for the scouting combine approached Cowboys’ head coach Wade Phillips on Thursday, he said, “Can’t talk. Against the rules.”
Jones says that the reason for his new mandate is that too much inaccurate information about the Cowboys was being written.
“Where I’m coming from here, I just want to make sure you’re not getting bits and pieces of information,” Jones said. “That’s not doing anybody any good and you’re not making accurate reports.”
Jones doesn’t think that he is undermining the authority of his head coach, Wade Phillips, by not allowing him to talk to the media, even though all NFL coaches speak to the media while at the Combine.
“It’s well known that relative to our personnel decisions who makes that decision,” said Jones, who has had final say on personnel matter since purchasing the team 20 years ago. “All I’m trying to say is basically that’s where you need to go to see where the status of that decision is. That’s where you need to go. That’s what we’re trying to avoid. What’s happened this off-season, there’s been a lot of misinformation.”
The ironic part of this whole story is that Jones has only placed the gag order on his coaches. He has not issued a gag order for his players. So big-mouthed players like Terrell Owens can continue to say whatever they want, and divide the Cowboys’ locker room, with no negative repercussions. This story would almost be funny, if it weren’t so sad.
Can you imagine Dan Rooney putting a gag order on Mike Tomlin or Kevin Colbert, and telling the media that they needed to talk to him if they wanted information about the Steelers? Neither can I.
But the Rooneys aren’t Jerry Jones. The Steelers aren’t the Cowboys. And I am extraordinarily grateful for that.
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