Category Archives: Former Steelers

fernando-velasco

Fernando Velasco Signs With The Carolina Panthers

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The Carolina Panthers have signed former Steelers center Fernando Velasco, the team announced this evening.

https://twitter.com/Panthers/status/492062842602807297

The free agent center was signed by the Steelers last September after Maurkice Pouncey suffered a season ending injury during week one against Tennessee. The former Titans starter stepped in and exceeded the expectations of many fans and members of the media. He was placed on Injured Reserve after suffering an achilles injury in November.

Last year when Velasco didn’t make the Titans final roster, then Head Coach Mike Munchak said, “Fernando’s a guy who grew up with me as a line coach, so you know how I felt about him.” He went on to say that money wasn’t part of the reason he was released. With Munchak leading the Steelers offensive line this year, it’s not hard to imagine that his influence was a big factor in Velasco not being re-signed.

Stevenson-Sylvester

Stevenson Sylvester Signs With The Buffalo Bills

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Former Steelers linebacker Stevenson Sylvester has been signed by the Buffalo Bills. “Sly” was drafted by the Steelers in the 5th round of the 2010 draft. During his time with Pittsburgh, the linebacker was never really able to crack the starting roster.

Sylvester played a total of 50 games during his time here, but started only twice. Most of his playing time was spent on special teams, which was the main reason he was brought back last fall after having been cut by the Steelers in August.

The Sylvester signing adds to the growing list of Steelers alumni who find a home in Buffalo after leaving Pittsburgh. Frank “The Tank” Summers, Kraig Urbik, Doug Legursky, Tony Hills, and Chris Scott all come to mind.

Mike-Webster

Sony To Film Mike Webster Movie In Pittsburgh Starring Will Smith

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Sony Pictures plans to use the city of Pittsburgh as the backdrop for their upcoming big budget film. The movie is titled “Game Brain”, and is a drama focusing on the NFL concussion controversy. Hall of Fame center “Iron” Mike Webster, who died at the age of 50 in 2002, is reportedly the primary focus of the movie.

Webster earned 4 super bowl rings, 9 Pro Bowl nominations, and 9 All Pro selections during his 15 years with the Steelers. While the Steelers don’t officially retire jersey numbers, Webster’s #52 has not been reissued since his retirement. Resisting the urge to go off on a tangent here, but Mike Webster deserves more notoriety for his accolades and his tenure as the anchor of the Steelers offensive line. He had the longest career as a Pittsburgh Steeler, with Hines Ward’s 14 years coming in at a close second.

The story of Webster’s final years is a sad one. The retired center suffered from amnesia, dementia, and depression, as well as several other physical impairments from the abuse his body endured over his long NFL career. Aside from the physical and mental issues the hall of famer battled, he was also reportedly homeless and living in his pick up truck.

Mike Webster bought himself a Taser gun, used that on himself to treat his back pain, would zap himself into unconsciousness just to get some sleep. Mike Webster lost all his money, or maybe gave it away. He forgot. A lot of lawsuits. Mike Webster forgot how to eat, too. Soon Mike Webster was homeless, living in a truck, one of its windows replaced with a garbage bag and tape.

Webster’s story was thrust back into the national spotlight last fall when it was featured in the Frontline special “League Of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis”. You can watch the full video here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/

Mike Webster is featured mainly towards the beginning.

Back to the Game Brain movie…Will Smith is slated to star in the film. He will play Dr. Bennet Omalu, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Webster and the man who coined the acronym CTE. Omalu also performed tests on the brains of former Steelers linemen Terry Long and Justin Strzelczyk during his CTE research. About being portrayed by Will Smith in the movie, Omalu issued a statment saying that I’m “humbled that my hard work and contribution to the advancement of science is being recognized.”

The state of Pennsylvania awarded “Game Brain” $14.4 million in film tax credits, according to the Pennsylvania Film Office via the Trib. A portion of that money was originally awarded to Legendary Pictures, but filming had to be postponed. Steelers minority owner Thomas Tull is the founder and CEO of Legendary Pictures.

felix-jones

Felix Jones Is Still Waiting For A Call

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Veteran running back Felix Jones is in an unfamiliar position right now. It’s July, and he’s a free agent hoping to get a call from a team. Barring something extremely unlikely happening- that team won’t be the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers traded Adrian Robinson to the Eagles in exchange for Felix Jones last August. Prior to that, Jones spent his first five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.  The move was a stop gap of sorts to bolster running back depth after Le’Veon Bell suffered a foot injury a few days prior to the trade. Jones was active for every game last season, but saw very few snaps as the season progressed.

Jones is confident he’ll find a place on another team. “I know something is going to happen, I have a gut feeling,” he told Tulsa World recently. Jones totaled 2,728 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns with the Cowboys before signing with the Eagles last spring. Last season, the former 1st round pick had 184 rushing yards, though, he did have nearly 3 times as many return yards by season’s end.

Although the life of a running back is short in today’s NFL, Jones believes he can still contribute. “I played the game for a few years,” he said. “I kinda got the hang for what’s going on in the NFL at my position. I know I can teach younger guys. Obviously I still got some gas in my motor.”

Adam Podlesh

Patriots Waive Former Steelers WR Reggie Dunn

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Reggie Dunn, the speedster wide receiver the Steelers signed as an undrafted free agent last spring, has been waived by the Patriots. He has gone unclaimed on waivers and is free to sign with the team of his choosing. Dunn spent all of training camp with the Steelers last year before being released during the final round of roster cuts.

The former Utah kick returner saw time on the Packers, Browns, and Dolphins practice squads last season. He was with the Patriots since they signed him to their practice squad in January.

Alan-Faneca

Alan Faneca Inducted Into Louisiana Sports Hall Of Fame

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Former Steelers guard Alan Faneca was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame last weekend. Faneca was drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 1998 draft, and remained with the team through 2007. After leaving the Steelers, the 9 time pro bowl and all pro left guard saw short stints with the Jets and Cardinals before ultimately retiring in 2011.

Since retiring, Faneca lost over 100 lbs. He says he always planned to lose weight after he retired from football, and attributes the weight loss to cardio and marathon running. Here is a brief interview where the former Steelers lineman talks about becoming a marathon runner.

[xyz-ihs snippet=”fanecamarathon”]

Faneca played for LSU from 1994 to 1997, and amassed 210 pancake blocks during his time on the Tigers line. He had originally committed to Alabama, but changed his mind the morning of signing day after a call from the LSU recruiter.

“He dropped a lot of four-letter words,” Faneca recalled via Nola.com. “I’d have to say he cursed me out. After I hung up the phone I looked around my room and it was all purple and gold. There must have been 20 items. . . T-shirts, posters. . . I thought to myself, ‘What am I doing? I’m screwing up.’ I thought about it, woke up on signing day and said I’m going to LSU.”

20 years and a super bowl ring later, he’s inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Here’s another brief video of Faneca taking questions before his induction, and recalling the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The retired guard told reporters that it would have been a let down to go anywhere besides Pittsburgh.

[xyz-ihs snippet=”fanecainduction”]

Terry-Bradshaw

Too Many Are Quick To Judge Terry Bradshaw

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Terry Bradshaw has been taking a lot of heat this week. It seems that a large portion of the Steelers fanbase, and some in the media, are upset that the Blonde Bomber didn’t attend Chuck Noll’s funeral. According to Starkey and Mueller of 93.7 The Fan, Terry Bradshaw “in no way showed up to the viewing or the funeral to pay his respects”. To further add fuel to the fire, Starkey shared a quote from former Steelers public relations man Joe Gordon about Terry Bradshaw. The message he shared about Bradshaw from Gordon read, “He’s the most insincere person I’ve ever known.” Why Gordon would offer that…I have no idea.

There’s another part to the story. Steelers legend Jack Lambert, who is notoriously private, didn’t attend the funeral. Lambert did reportedly make private arrangements to meet with Chuck Noll’s wife. Here’s the skinny on that:

“He [Jack] called Joe Gordon over the weekend and said he wanted to sit down and talk with Marianne Noll, Chuck’s wife. So Sunday, it was arranged that Jack Lambert would talk with Marianne Noll at 1:30, and sure enough, Joe Gordon showed up at the funeral home, and at 1 o’clock, Jack Lambert was sitting outside in his truck, presumably having driven in from Kittanning, which I think is where he lives up there, sitting in his truck waiting. And he had a chance to have an audience, have a nice talk with Marianne Noll for about 15 to 20 minutes and then left and drove back home before anybody else came.”

That’s such a Jack Lambert move. Rogue yet classy. Honestly, it’s so Jack Lambert it’s exactly how you might imagine the hall of famer paying his respects if you hadn’t heard the story. While the two have nothing to do with each other, sharing what Lambert did feeds some of the negativity for Terry’s lack of attendance.

People grieve in different ways, and however Terry Bradshaw chose to pay his respects/send his condolences, is really no one’s business. This and other stories circulating about the former quarterback paint a picture of indifference about Chuck Noll’s passing, and that’s just not the case.

After his one man show “Americas Favorite Dumb Blonde” in Pittsburgh last weekend, the former quarterback said some words of condolence about his former coach, and sang a tearful song of tribute to him. You can watch part of that in the video below (the song’s not included in the video).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d7i7hixl0Q

Ultimately, I think many people expected to see all the Steelers greats from the ’70s dynasty serving as pallbearers at Coach Noll’s funeral, with Terry Bradshaw standing across from Mean Joe (who was a pallbearer). It may be easy for us to pass judgement on Bradshaw for being absent, but as spectators, we should all try to reserve judgement on those who have suffered a personal loss.

le'veon Bell

Deshea Townsend “In No Way” Associated With Sunday’s Incident

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The Athletics department at Mississippi State has issued a statement regarding the drug bust at a home owned by former Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend. The statement released earlier by the Bulldogs says that Townsend was in no way associated with the incident, or with the individuals arrested yesterday.

“Deshea Townsend has learned that arrests occurred at a property titled in his name in the Mount Washington area of Pittsburgh,” the athletics department said in the statement via the NFL’s website. “Although Coach Townsend has not been associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2010, he continues to own investment property in the Pittsburgh area. The property in question was the subject of a lease purchase agreement executed in March 2012. Neither individuals arrested were signatories to the March 2012 lease agreement. Coach Townsend employs a rental agent to conduct his affairs regarding this property and in no way is associated with the activities that may have occurred at a property rented by him to others.”

Sounds perfectly reasonable and exactly like I imagined. The only real question remaining is what were they doing with the chicken?

le'veon bell

Heroin, Guns Seized At Home Owned By Deshea Townsend

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A home owned by former Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend was the scene of a police raid last night. Before I continue, there is no indication that Townsend was involved, or even aware of the criminal activities that were taking place at the Mt. Washington home.

Police took two into custody last night- 33 year old Price Montgomery, and 35 year old James Perrin. Police and DEA agents apprehended the two and also seized 1,500 bricks of heroin, $100,000 in cash and jewelry, two vehicles, Cuban cigars and a live chicken during the massive bust.

https://twitter.com/WPXI_DebG/status/476032254435934209

Townsend was drafted by the Steelers in the 4th round of the 1998 draft. The cornerback spent 12 seasons with the team, before finishing his career in Indianapolis. He is currently the cornerbacks coach for the Mississippi State University Bulldogs.

ryan-clark-steelers

[Video] Ryan Clark Says Emotional Goodbye To Steeler Nation

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Former Steelers safety Ryan Clark gave a heartfelt farewell to Steelers fans last night on Pittsburgh’s KDKA, calling Pittsburgh “one of the best organizations in sports.”

Clark was with the Steelers for the last eight years before signing with the Washington Redskins in March. During the interview with Bob Pompeani, Clark fought back tears while talking about the friends he misses in Pittsburgh. “I think the most important things are just my friends. Ike, Troy, and Will Gay, they’re my brothers man, and I think that’s the hard part about this game, because I don’t want people here to think that I’m not excited about it, because I really am,” Clark said about his new opportunity in Washington. He continued, “But, when I was sick, they came to the hospital, Troy cried with me. But, that’s the things I’ll miss, that’s the things I’ll remember. I’m just grateful to God that he let me be there”

Clark, who was always known as a fierce hitter, said that the hit he remembers most took place in New England in 2008. “My favorite [hit will] be Wes Welker until I’m gone from this Earth. The Patriots had this mystique about them, they still do, honestly. Wes Welker had this mystique about him, about being a scrappy, tough and whatever adjectives people always like to add to him. We just didn’t like those guys, we just didn’t, and it just felt so good, to hit him and it set a tone for us,” Clark said.

Here’s the obligatory youtube clip of that in case you forgot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E5c0uQEafs

Clark had nothing but nice things to say about the Steelers fanbase.

“Was the greatest years of my life as far as sports go, to be around such good people. People that embraced me and treated me the way they did. Man, it was just beautiful. I just thank them, I thank them all. The Rooney family, I’m just so appreciative they took a guy that nobody really wanted and they gave me a shot. To the fans, just amazing to go to places and like, take over stadiums. To be in San Diego where Terrible Towels overwhelmed anything they had. The Steelers are spoiled by the fans they have, it’s just awesome.

“I leave with knowing you guys are amazing fans in an amazing city and one of the best organizations in sports and I’m just grateful. A little kid from Louisiana, that no one wanted to draft, got to come in and be a part of something so great.”

You can watch the majority of the interview below.

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