If you're not aware of what I'm referring to, I'll give you a little background information. It started last Monday morning when he arrived for practice at the Steelers' South Side facility and found the following message scribbled onto the grease board in the locker room:
"Take Mendenhall's ball away and get $100 from him. And you get an extra $500 if you bring it to the RB's meeting room."This message came with a special football given to Mendenhall with another message written on it: "Mendenhall's $100 ball. You get it, you will get paid."
Out of this little rookie "exercise" thought out by his veteran teammate Hines Ward, Mendenhall has lost a total of $200 to veteran safety Tyrone Carter and rookie defensive back Travis Williams.
Did Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin agree with "exercise"? His take is that it's OK as long as it helps the player avoid this mistake in the future.
"Peer pressure is the ultimate motivator," Tomlin said. "The reality is he has to hold onto the ball."
However, it appears that the exercise didn't yet sink into the rookie's playing mindset as he fumbled the ball again last night. Being aware that it's more of a psychological matter more than anything, Tomlin continued to put Mendenhall back in and have him carry the ball several times more. Hopefully, Mendenhall has gotten this little rookie mental block out of his system and is ready to go for the regular season.
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