Author Archives: Steve Alan

About Steve Alan

Steve, known by most as TTF, is owner of TheSteelersFans and administrator of the best Steelers message board on the net. Big fan of strong coffee and hardcore Steelers fan from womb to tomb.

Report: Sean Spence Will Not Require Surgery On His Knee

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As you likely know, Sean Spence suffered an injury to his right knee during Thursday night’s loss to the Eagles. After the game, Coach Tomlin described it as a PCL, but didn’t have any further information. According to Jerry Dulac of the Post Gazette, Spence sprained his PCL, and it will not require surgery.

https://twitter.com/gerrydulac/status/503272493248155649

As I mentioned the other night, most PCL injuries do not require surgery. Thankfully for Spence, this appears to be minor. Goodness knows the kid has overcome enough in his short NFL career. Hopefully he makes a quick recovery. Assuming it is a low grade sprain, his recovery time should be relatively short.

Projecting The First Wave Of Roster Cuts

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The Steelers have until August 26th at 4:oo pm to reduce their roster down to 75 players. Currently the team is carrying 90. The Steelers will likely make their cuts prior to the Tuesday deadline, as has been their tendency in recent history. Cuts could come as early as today.

Aside from the obvious reason a player gets cut in the first wave of cuts, sometimes teams cut players early as a courtesy, but other times it’s to try to reduce the chance of them getting claimed on waivers by another team. Here is a look at the players who are very likely to be waived, a couple of whom may be injury waivers.

CB Dayonne Nunley
CB Lew Toler
DE Ethan Hemer
DT Roy Philon
LB Jordan Zumwalt
OL Emmanuel McCray
QB Brendon Kay
RB Josh Harris
RB Stephen Houston
OG Chris Elkins
RB Miguel Maysonet
TE Eric Waters
WR Lanear Sampson
WR CJ Goodwin
OT Graham Pocic

Honorable mentions- S Ross Ventrone, RB Jordan Hall, LB Dan Molls.

Le’Veon Bell Didn’t Know He Could Get A DUI For Being High

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Ross Township police have released the criminal complaint against Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount. According to the complaint, Le’Veon Bell didn’t know he could get a DUI from smoking marijuana.

“I didn’t know that you could get a DUI for being high. I smoked two hours ago,” Bell said according to the complaint (via the Post Gazette). “I am not high anymore. I am perfectly fine. Why would I be getting high if I had to get on a plane to make it to my game?”

You can draw your own conclusions, but either Bell really is that clueless, or he hoped to talk his way out of it. The officer asked where he was heading, to which Bell replied, “I have to be on my plane at three to be in Philadelphia. I play for the Steelers.” The officer noted that Bell’s eyes were red and glassy, and his pupils were dilated. After a field sobriety test, the officer noted that he didn’t believe that he could safely operate a motor vehicle.

After the traffic stop, Bell was taken to UPMC Passavant where he had a blood test to determine if he had active THC in his blood. He was subsequently charged with DUI.

After last night’s game, the two apologized for the distraction they caused. “I’m sorry to be a distraction to the team,” said Bell. “I’m only going to answer football questions right now.” After which he would not answer questions about the incident.

Blount’s apology was similar. “I’m sorry for the distraction I caused my team. I apologized to the team and the coaches.”

Former Steelers RB Isaac Redman Done With Football Due To Neck Injury

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After the news of Le’veon Bell’s and LeGarrette Blount’s marijuana charges broke the other day, many people were calling for Isaac Redman to return. No really, they were. Anyway, the calls for his return on social media must have prompted him to reveal that he can no longer play football due to a spinal injury. Here’s what he had to say about it via his Twitter account.

“To those who are wondering why I am not playing anymore. Last season I tried my best to play through a neck injury but I wasn’t myself on the field. After being released I wen Cali to see Dr. Watkins. (donctor who did Payton Manning’s neck surgery) after 2 MRI’s and a cat scan he then told me I had suffered a career ending injury to my spinal cord. Various teams have called but as you can see I was unable to go. I would like to thank all my fans for the tremendous support throughout my career.”

https://twitter.com/ired33/status/502826137207455744

Redman was named starter last year, but was waived by the team on October 21st.

Sean Spence And Jason Worilds Exit With Knee Injuries

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During the loss to the Eagles tonight, Sean Spence and Jason Worilds left the game early with knee injuries. Sean Spence’s knee injury was to his right knee, not the knee he had surgically repaired two years ago. Coach Tomlin described it as ‘probably a PCL’. He didn’t elaborate and probably doesn’t have specifics yet, but often times PCL injuries don’t require surgery. We’ll have to wait and see how significantly it was injured. PCL injuries usually seem better than they truly are at first, but worsen as time goes on.

Tomlin said Jason Worilds had a ‘knee of some description’. This could mean anything, but he was on the sideline icing it during the game, and he didn’t seem to be concerned about it. According to Ian Rapoport, taking him out was just a precaution.

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/502676079559991296

The only other injury coach Tomlin mentioned after the game was an ankle sprain to Cam Heyward.

Steelers Inactives Vs Eagles

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The following players are not dressing for the Steelers tonight:

S Will Allen, WR Lance Moore, RB Tauren Poole, TE Eric Waters, TE Will Johnson, CB Shaq Richardson, CB Devin Smith, OL Cody Wallace, LS Greg Warren, and LB Jordan Zumwalt.

For the Eagles:

CB Brandon Boykin, WR Brad Smith, WR Josh Huff , RB Chris Polk, LB Jake Knott, and C Julian Vandervelde.

Report: Police File Charges Against Le’veon Bell And LeGarrette Blount

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According to several media outlets, the Ross Township police department has formally filed charges against Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount.

Ross Twp Police have filed marijuana possession charges against Steelers RBs LeVeon Bell + LeGarrette Blount. Plus a DUI charge for Bell.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 21, 2014

Charges are officially filed against #Steelers RBs LeGarrette Blount (possession of marijuana) & Le'Veon Bell (possession of marijuana, DUI)

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 21, 2014

Blount has been charged with possession of marijuana, and Bell has been charged with possession, as well as DUI. Both charges are misdemeanors, which is why the two are able to receive the charges via the mail.

For what it’s worth, Ed Bouchette of the Post Gazette says that the Steelers are not going to punish the two, and that the team is going to leave discipline to the NFL.

Steelers will allow NFL to handle any disciplinary measures vs. Bell, Blount. Again, Goodell not likely to act in 2014. Both play tonight

— Ed Bouchette (@XRuleExecutive) August 21, 2014

Breaking Down Brett Keisel’s 2 Year Contract

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The Steelers re-signed Brett Keisel to a two year deal yesterday. As is almost always the case, the financial details weren’t immediately available, but I have them for you now. Here is a breakdown of his contract. The two year deal is for $3 Mil, including a $500K signing bonus.

[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number, Dead Money, Savings If Cut

“Keisel, Brett”, 2014, “$1,000,000”, “$250,000”, “$1,250,000”, “$500,000”, “$2,500,000”
“Keisel, Brett”, 2015, “$1,500,000”, “$250,000”, “$1,750,000”, “$250,000”, “$1,500,000”

[/table]

As you can see, the deal is structured to make the veteran defensive lineman’s contract easily fungible next season.

Photos Of LeGarrette Blount And Le’Veon Bell’s Police Encounter

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Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate KDKA has obtained photos of Le’veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount’s incident yesterday. In the pictures, you can clearly see Le’Veon Bell in handcuffs being escorted by police officers.

Courtesy KDKA

In the third photo, you can see the motorcycle unit that initially pulled the Steelers duo over. According to the Ross Township police, the motorcycle officer was at a red light and smelled marijuana smoke coming from the running back’s camaro. After pulling them over, the officer found a ziploc bag with 20 grams of marijuana on the console.

As of right now, no one has been formally charged with anything. “No one has been charged yet. The case is still being investigated,” said Ross Township Police Detective Brian Kohlhepp via KDKA. “However, we do anticipate charges of possession against all three individuals. And in addition to that, we took Mr. Bell to UPMC Passavant for blood draw for suspicion of DUI for driving under the influence of marijuana.”

The detective also indicated that the department has not had contact with the Steelers organization.

Steelers Plan To Play Le’Veon Bell And LeGarrette Blount Tonight

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It appears that head coach Mike Tomlin isn’t going to take a knee jerk type of stance on Bell and Blount’s run in with the police yesterday. According to NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala, Tomlin intends to play the two during tonight’s match up against the Philadelphia Eagles.

According to Kinkhabwala, Tomlin’s mindset is that jobs will be decided tonight, and the whole team shouldn’t suffer because of the actions of Bell and Blount. It would make little sense for the team to discipline the two, assuming they do so at all, this early in the process. The two have not even received summons for the citations they received yesterday. How much they’ll play tonight remains to be seen.