Former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro left tackle Flozell Adams has signed a two year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Nicknamed “The Hotel” due to his gargantuan 338 pound frame, he is a five time Pro Bowl selection, with the most recent appearance being in 2007.  Flozell protected Captain Overrated’s blind side in all 16 games last season.  Since I try to ignore America’s Laughingstock as much as possible, I can only repeat many are claiming his release was primarily due to the hefty $2.5 million bonus on top of the $5 million salary he was due to collect this year.

Or it may have been because he’s a massive tool.   You may recall a Sunday night game against the Giants near the end of the season where he cheapshotted Justin Tuck as the teams were walking off the field for halftime.   Or there was the MNF game earlier in the year which saw Adams receive a personal foul for blatantly tripping Julies Peppers.  In fact, he was smacked with $25,000 worth of fines for various unsavory acts in each of the first three games of the season.  I’m fine with protecting your QB at all costs but when you’re tripping guys because you got beat or attempting to cold cock other players from behind, there is something rotten in Big D.

Max Starks, one of the NFL’s better left tackles, is due to make $6.7 million this season.   It’s not yet known if Flozell will move to the easier right tackle position or they’ll shift Max back over to where he started for our 2005 Super Bowl champions.  Wherever he plays, Adams should at least improve the run blocking as the Cowboys were an excellent rushing team the past few seasons.

As you may have gathered, I’m less than thrilled with this signing.  I really can’t fault the Steelers, though.   The offensive line situation is desperate and we haven’t even played one preseason game.   Rookie Chris Scott broke his foot while incumbent starter Willie Colon tore his ACL.   Both are done for the year.  Jonathan Scott started for the Bills last season so he could be an option.   But behind him we have undrafted rookie Kyle Jolly and total bust Tony Hills as the only fallbacks.

While I’m not sure we should put too much faith in a 35 year old who is about one bucket of KFC away from weighing four bills, Flozell the Hotel should at least provide a little insurance to a team which needs every bit it can get right now.

With training camp upon us, the Pittsburgh Steelers wrapped up a couple pieces of important off-season business.

First, the Steelers signed Kevin Colbert to a five year contract extension.  He has been the team’s erstwhile General Manager since 2000, although they use the term Director of Player Personnel which I hate.  Not only is it a pain in the ass to type out, you can’t just use initials because the term DP brings a flood of porn spam to my inbox.  In any case, Colbert is given much of the credit for the team’s strong draft record as well as doing a terrific job dealing with free agency in the salary cap era.   Plus, he’s a Pittsburgh guy.

In other signing news, second round pick Jason Worilds signed a four year rookie contract.   Salary details weren’t available but second rounder LaMarr Woodley is making about $900,000 on the last year of his rookie contract so it’s probably somewhere in that range.  I’m anxious to see Worilds in action as I’ve seen his name mentioned in several articles listing steals of the 2010 draft.   Some were a bit confused by the Steelers taking three linebackers this year but I believe they’re already looking ahead to the day when they have to part ways with James Harrison.

This leaves first rounder Maurkice Pouncey as the only unsigned pick.   The Steelers are hardly alone in that position.  Only two teams have signed their top draft choice (it’ll be three some time today as a Tim Tebow signing is imminent).   I’m guessing agents are demanding bigger signing bonuses than usual because of next year’s impending strike/lockout.  Whatever the hold up, let’s hope it doesn’t drag out too long since injuries to Willie Colon and Justin Hartwig and the release of Darnell Stapleton mean Pouncey would have a very good chance to start for us immediately.

After the worst off-season in Steeler history, I’m looking forward to actual football.  Let training camp commence!

Kaye Cowher, wife of legendary Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, passed away Friday after a lengthy battle with skin cancer.  She was 54.

Steeler Nation probably best remembers Kaye from the frequent shots of her cheering from a private box during one of Bill’s numerous playoff games.  My most vivid memory of her comes from the History of the Pittsburgh Steelers DVD.  If you’ve ever seen it or any NFL Films production which deals with Super Bowl XXX, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  The cameras follow Bill walking off the field following the Steelers crushing defeat by the Cowboys.  At the tunnel, he encounters a crestfallen Kaye and his daughter Meagan, who has tears in her eyes.  “You can’t win ‘em all,” he reassures them as he smiles and hugs them both.

That’s one of my favorite Cowher moments because he was just doing what almost every other husband/father in the world does.  He was obviously devastated by the loss but he sucked it up and put on an act because consoling the family was more important than how he was feeling.

Meagan went on to play basketball in college, as did her two sisters.  They were following in their mother’s footsteps.   Kaye was a power forward at North Carolina State, where her and Bill met, and then played professionally in the defunct Woman’s Pro Basketball League.   Kaye had a twin sister and to promote the league they appeared in commercials for Doublemint Gum.

As the name of this blog implies, I’m a huge Bill Cowher fan.  I don’t know if anybody else was aware of Kaye’s battle with skin cancer but this news caught me completely by surprise.  For the past three years, NFL teams have thrown millions and millions of dollars at Bill trying to lure him out of retirement.  This is idle speculation but I’m now thinking the reason he repeatedly turned them down may have something to do with his wife’s condition.  If that is the case, he’s earned even more of my respect.

My deepest condolences go out to Bill, Meagan, Lauren, and Lindsay Cowher on the loss of their wife and mother.  On behalf of Steeler Nation, our prayers are with you.

With little more than a week until training camp begins, the Fansided network of blogs decided to try and get everybody in a football frame of mind.  So we’re running a little something called the Fansided Divisional Smackdown.  Basically, an All-Star team was chosen for each division and we’re asking the fans to vote on which unit is superior.  Using this process, we’ll theoretically determine the best division in the NFL.

DISCLAIMER:  I was on vacation when the AFC North team was chosen.

Very quickly, I am extremely embarrassed by some of the selections.   It’s a travesty.  A sham.  A mockery.   Clearly, there are still a ton of people jealous of the Pittsburgh Steelers. How else can you explain some of the perplexing choices?

Let’s see, Hines Ward as the third receiver.  Really?  Hines is a first ballot Hall of Famer.  Ochocinco is an overrated self-promoting media whore  whose never thrown a block in his life.  Oh, he catches the football?  Well, last year Hines had 1,167 receiving yards while Ochostinko had 1,047.   Guess some of my fellow bloggers bought this clown’s hype.

Shayne Graham as kicker?  I guess nobody heard Heinz Field is the hardest place to kick in the NFL.  Jeff Reed not only makes it look easy with his stunning accuracy, he’s one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history.

Shaun Rogers at nose tackle?  This one really upsets me.  Rogers is fat lazy piece of crap.  He takes plays off with regularity and the next time I see him hustle across the field to make a play, it’ll be the first.  Casey Hampton is a FIVE TIME Pro Bowler and almost universally accepted as the finest nose tackle in the game.  Except among my fellow AFC North bloggers evidently…

And finally, the biggest trashamockery of them all, Carson Palmer at QB?  Huh?  Last time I checked, Carson has no problem passing through airport metal detectors because he ain’t wearing any rings.   In fact, Palmer has appeared in all of two playoff games with zero wins.  Meanwhile, Ben Roethlisberger has nine wins and TWO SUPER BOWL VICTORIES.  You can’t even argue Palmer is better statistically since Ben had 26 TDs and 4,320 yards last season to Carson’s meager 21/3,094.   And we all know Palmer pads his stats with a lot of garbage time yardage while Ben’s stats are usually compiled in the midst of thrilling last second comebacks.

Whatever.  Haters gonna hate.  If you want to vote for the AFC North “All-Star” team (or do as I encourage you to do and vote for the AFC West out of spite) you can click here and make your voice heard. Do not let these injustices stand!

On Friday evening, the New York Yankees paid tribute to their late owner George Steinbrenner.  To Yankee fans, losing The Boss is an event similar to what Steeler Nation experienced when our beloved founder Art Rooney passed away.  While Steinbrenner wasn’t the first or only owner of the Bronx Bombers, he was the man responsible for making them into the symbol of excellence they are today.

I know some of you may be thinking, “Um, isn’t this a Pittsburgh Steelers blog?”

The Yankees and George Steinbrenner have a very interesting connection to the Steelers.   Steinbrenner, you see, was the second choice to buy that team.  Wanna guess who was offered them first?

The Chief.

Back in 1973, the Yankees were owned by CBS.  Believe it or not, they were in pretty lousy shape, having not won a division title in twelve years and finishing last that season.  CBS wanted out of the baseball business.  The first man they called was Art Rooney.  Their asking price for a team which would be worth $1.5 billion dollars in 2010 was the grant sum of $9 million.

The Chief turned them down.

Rooney may have been a great football man but his family has always said baseball was his first love.  He even played semi-pro minor league ball back in the 1920s for a team ironically named the Wheeling Stogies.   He hit .369 according to his statistical page on Baseball-Reference.

However, the NFL didn’t like their owners being involved in multiple leagues.  Plus, the baseball owners must approve of any ownership changes and Rooney worried his reputation as a gambler would hurt his chances.  Finally, the Chief simply didn’t have that much cash available to him.  He could have taken out loans and so forth but having lived through the Great Depression, dealing with banks was only something you did as a last resort.

So the team went instead to a Cleveland ship building magnate named George Steinbrenner.

It’s interesting to look back and think what if.  Art’s son Dan was and continues to be one of the most respected leaders in football.  Steinbrenner became the prime example of an owner using his superior cash flow to buy championships.  Meanwhile, Dan Rooney is one of the owners who championed a salary cap and revenue sharing to keep small market teams competitive.  If the Rooney family was involved in baseball, one wonders if the course of that sport would’ve more closely mirrored what happened in the NFL.  Imagine that.

Imagine a world where the Chief was the Boss.

And a world where the Pirates have the exact same payroll as the Yankees.

The Post-Gazette is reporting the Pittsburgh Steelers have given a three year contract extension to head coach Mike Tomlin.  This new contract will keep him on the sidelines of Heinz Field through 2014.  He’s currently making $2.5 million under the terms of his current contract and it’s expected his new deal will double his salary.

I’ve been vocal about my feelings that Tomlin’s immediate success is largely owed to inheriting Bill Cowher’s championship caliber team.  That said, there have been a number of coaches in the recent past who were handed Filet Mignon and preceded to turn it into chuck roast.   The bottom line is he got the job done.  Despite his epic bungling last season as the defending Super Bowl winners experienced one of the most embarrassing seasons in their history, Tomlin deserves a chance to redeem himself.

By the time the final two years on his sparkling new extension kick in, the majority of Cowher’s players will likely be gone.  Tomlin and Director of Player Personnel Kevin Colbert (who is also expected to receive an extension soon) will get their chance to mold the team in their own image as we move into the middle part of the decade.  While Steeler Nation has been spoiled by the almost uninterrupted brilliance of Cowher’s 15 year reign, it only makes sense to give the current regime a chance to show what they can do.  They’ve earned a long leash.

Let’s just hope they don’t end up hanging themselves with it.

If Willie Colon falls during OTAs, does Steeler Nation make a sound?

Other than a collective yawn.

Pittsburgh Steelers starting right tackle/human traffic cone Willie Colon left workouts on Monday after suffering an undisclosed injury.   NFL.com later reported it was a torn Achilles tendon, thus ending his 2010 season before it even started.   Colon’s agent confirmed it was an Achilles injury of some nature, which even in the best case scenario usually requires some sort of reconstructive surgery.  In other words, don’t expect to see Dancin’ Willie in the Black and Gold this season.

Looks like the Curse of Milledgeville has claimed its first victim.  Who knew bustin’ a move to Miley Cyrus tunes could blow out a knee?  Unfortunately, the scumbug who most deserves a downfall has thus far escaped his just desserts but without Colon watching his back we can always hope one of the inevitable 58 sacks this season produces a career-ending injury.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I’m not all that convinced losing Colon will impact the offensive line in any discernible way.  For the past two seasons, Colon has been utterly useless, an undersized RT who gets run over in pass protection and can’t move his man on run plays.  With the exception of Justin Hartwig, I’d say Willie’s been far and away the worst member of a putrid offensive line.  It is almost inconceivable to me that whomever is brought in as a replacement would perform any worse than he has.

And who might that replacement be?  Tony Hills and Trai Essex might be called to step up their game.   Newly signed Jonathan Scott started at tackle seven times for the Bills last season.  Or the Steelers could try to find some veteran help out in free agency.  Flozell Adams, Mike Gandy, Levi Jones, and Damion McIntosh are still looking for jobs.  Finally, the Steelers can always take a wait and see approach.   Once training camp begins, there are always one or two quality veterans cut to make room for younger (and cheaper) newcomers.

In the meantime, I’ll remain unconcerned about this recent development.  When your offensive line surrenders 50+ sacks a season, something tells me nobody playing there is irreplaceable.

Forbes Magazine recently conducted a poll of the most hated people in sports.  The results are not surprising to anybody with the slightest sense of morality or human decency.  They are, however, a terrible reminder of how one of the most honorable and respected franchises in all of sports, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are now just any other football team.  Gone are the days when Steeler Nation could hold their heads up high for winning the right way.

You can read the article here. Or view the list in pictures by clicking here.

The most hated athlete in America continues to be Michael Vick.  Beating, torturing, and drowning dogs is not something easily forgiven.  Although, it does bring to mind some sweet irony.  Last year, the hot rumor making the rounds was that Mike Tomlin was interested in Vick.  Tomlin’s mentor, Tony Dungy, serves as Vick’s spiritual adviser and both men grew up in the same section of Virginia.  When I broke this news last summer, I recall the howls of protest as many people stomped their feet declaring they’d abandon the Steelers if they ever brought in human garbage such as him.

Oh how times change.

We’ll ignore number two on the list, Al Davis, because the negative feelings directed towards him are because his team sucks, not due to anything criminal.  Which brings us to number three on the list, the second most hated athlete in America.   More hated than the man who won a Super Bowl via cheating (Bill Belichick).  More hated than a team destroying cancer and self-promoting fool (Terrell Owens).  More hated than steroid abusers like Manny Ramirez or A-Rod.

Benjamin T. Roethlisberger.

Shocking, I know.  The people of this great nation have spoken and, SURPRISE, arrogant jackasses who run around the country raping women are not well-liked.  I guess the mountain of unsold #7 jerseys which clutter warehouses because Pittsburgh area stores are smart enough not to sell them (not that anybody with the slightest shred of morality would buy one) should be clue enough.  When your hometown fans can’t stand you, one can only imagine what the rest of the country feels.  At least T.O. or Belicheat are still beloved by their own fans.  Of course, us Pittsburghers have long been wise enough to recognize a scumbag as a scumbag regardless of whether he played for the hometown team (see: Barry Bonds circa 1992).  It’s nice to see the rest of the country knows a vile pig when they see one, as well.

Unfortunately for us, we’re still stuck with him until the glorious day when he wears the black and gold no more.  A day that for the vast majority of us can’t come soon enough.

As promised, Ben Roethlisberger sat down with two of his biggest cheerleaders, sycophantic media types Sally Wiggin and Bob Pompeani.  The talks about what you would expect from stations who are in bed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, although I congratulate Wiggin on not doing the interview while sitting on Ben’s lap as I’m sure her station would’ve liked.  Of course, Big Shady refused to answer any specific questions about the rape sprees incidents in Georgia and Reno so don’t expect any more lies details on that front.  Instead you can listen to Ben demonstrate what a remorseful and deep-thinking person he is by comparing himself to Superman and quoting TobyMac (A Christian hip hop singer.  Nicely done.) song lyrics.

If you have your barf bags ready, you can watch the Wiggin interview by clicking here and Pomp’s slightly less obnoxious effort by clicking here.

I had an overwhelming urge to point out some of his more laughable statements, such as saying his behavior “was the result of being young, dumb, and immature…” when WAS insinuates these problems happened in the past (his latest assault was less than four months ago) and I would hardly call 28 years old young enough to excuse frat boy hijinks.  But I digress.

I will simply point out that if he was such a great teammate all these years (as some of the blind Ben-Worshipers have argued) then why did he apologize for being a lousy teammate?   And if he was such a victim of vicious smears by the public at large, why did he apologize for his poor public behavior?   Finally, if everything was so peachy in his world and he was simply the target of scheming women, why does he feel compelled to change his life from this point forward?

I hope he follows through on his plan to find religion and become more of a Christian gentleman worthy of wearing the uniform of the Pittsburgh Steelers.   I have my doubts but this is the first step he’s taken in the right direction.

It’s the story that will never die.

At least until that glorious day when the Pittsburgh Steelers reclaim their legacy by ridding themselves of the vicious scumbag currently standing behind center.

It’s difficult to always be right but I guess that is my cross to bear.  In my previous post, I mention the time is nearing for Ben Roethlisberger to conduct a phony self-serving sit down interview where he tells us what a poor wronged innocent soul he is and how he’s dedicating the rest of his life to rescuing dolphins and nursing AIDS babies.  I even floated possible interviewers such as Sally Wiggin or Peggy Finnegan.   Well, lo and behold, news comes that he has indeed consented to having softballs tossed at him by renowned ass-kissers Bob Pompeani of KDKA and Wiggin over at WTAE.

You can check out a brief preview of Pomp’s interview, complete with dramatic Oprah-will-change-your-life style music (*gag*) by clicking here.

Pig Ben’s timing is perfect with these interviews.  Coincidence?  Only if you’re one of those gullible fools who still believe nothing inappropriate occurred in that small bathroom in Milledgeville, Georgia.  These interviews are coming out now in an obvious attempt at damage control over the release of 50 dvds worth of damning evidence by the Georgia Bureau of investigation.

TMZ has the juiciest nuggets, which you can watch by clicking on the photo I posted above.  The Post-Gazette has the victim’s entire interview where she recounts all the details of the horrible ordeal she suffered at the hands of that human garbage.  You can click here to see that video. Or click here and see Ben buying shots for random college girls, most of whom look underage.  Or you can click here and see photographs of Ben and Willie Colon hanging out with the victim and other random hotties as well as photos of the VIP room and the infamous bathroom.  The next time you think your job sucks just be glad you’re not the guy in charge of swabbing semen samples off bathroom walls.

Even though I am disgusted by the sight of this man, I will of course continue to bring you the news as it comes out.   So as vomit-inducing as Rapistbergers’s interviews are sure to be, I’ll be sure to post the video and/or links on this site after they air so be sure to check back here over the next few days.  And come prepared with your own barf bag.  Actually, I’d invest in a whole box of them since after week 6, we’ll probably need them in order to root for this team with such a disgusting human being playing for them.