Steelers Roster Down to 53

The Steelers announced the release of 22 players from their roster yesterday (3 placed on waived / injured list; another on the NFL's International Players Development Program - practice squad). As previously posted, backup QB Charlie Batch was placed in injured reserve.

1. LB Patrick Bailey
2. WR/KR Eddie Drummond
3. P Paul Ernster
4. FB Billy Latsko
5. OG Doug Legursky
6. OG Matt Lentz
7. CB Roy Lewis
8. S Grant Mason
9. DE Ryan McBean
10. OT Jeremy Parquet
11. DT Scott Paxson
12. DE Jordan Reffett
13. WR Willie Reid
14. WR Micah Rucker
15. TE Dezmond Sherrod
16. TE Lee Vickers
17. RB Justin Vincent
18. CB Travis Williams
    
19. LB Arnold Harrison (waived / injured list - left knee)
20. LB Mike Humpal (waived / injured list - neck)
21. S Ryan Mundy (waived / injured list - ankle)
22. Marvin Allen (practice squad - International Player Development Program)*
23. Charlie Batch

The Steelers also announced that Marvin Allen will be added to the practice squad as part of the NFL's international player development program which enables them to carry a ninth practice squad player beginning after 12 noon on Sunday, August 31st (otherwise, they are only able to sign 8 players to the squad).

A Few Rumors for Your Saturday

TIOPS has posted some interesting speculation about the Steelers today.

• The Steelers have approached the Chicago Bears (who have been in the market for a tackle) to gauge the trade interest in Max Starks, but its his salary - not him - that remains an issue (what a surprise!). Supposedly Starks has been saying that he believes he won't remain a Pittsburgh Steeler this season. [I still don't know what the deal was with that $7 million!!]
• a "source" will not confirm or deny that Sean Mahan is demanding to be traded

Very interesting! We'll have to wait and see if there are any truth to these rumors.

We ARE the Best Fans in America!

ESPN ranked Steelers fan the best fans in America - but everyone already knew that!! They based their ranking on (1=GREAT; 5=worst):

• Stadium factor (loud? great atmosphere?) - our rank: 1
• Live and die factor (fans take loss hard? ESPN considers this a good thing) - 1
• Traveling road show factor (big presence in other stadiums?) - 2
• Loyalty when team sucks (score points by sticking with loser) - 1
• Hate factor (other teams fans hate your fans; this is good according to ESPN) - 1
• Tailgate factor (home tailgates sizzling or stale?) - 2
• Home fans creativity (wacky ideas or not?) - 2
• TOTAL (adding up the above rankings) - 10 (we actually tied with Greenbay Packers fans with the total, but think that sellouts and season-ticket waiting list placed us above them) -- SEE BELOW

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Consecutive sellouts: 299 Season-ticket waiting list: More than six years

No team is as woven into the fabric of a city. The organization's stability has a lot to do with it, as generations of Steelers fans relate to the tradition of ownership (Rooneys), smashmouth football, quality head coaches (league-low three since 1969) and success (five Super Bowl titles). The season-ticket waiting list is extremely long and the consecutive sellout streak of 299 games, including playoffs, is unbelievable. -- James Walker

Batch will Remain a Pittsburgh Steeler (for now)

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an article today reporting that the Pittsburgh Steelers will be going with Byron Leftwich as their backup QB and keeping Dennis Dixon for their #3 while placing Charile Back on IR with a possibility of using a procedural injury settlement in which he would be available to them if needed later.

Batch has about 4 weeks left of recovery time left and will be healthy enough to begin playing again at that time; however, if they place him on injured reserve, his season would end regardless of whether or not he is healthy enough to play and would have to pay him his full salary of $1,355.000. With having the choice to use a procedural injury settlement, the Steelers could release him and have him available to them in the second half of the season with only having to pay him a part of that salary; however, as a free agent, he could also sign with another team during that time and only be available to the Steelers after mid-season if he didn't sign with another team.

Batch will be a free agent after this year.

NOT Steelers News, but Still VERY INTERESTING!!

Chad Johnson's name is now officially Chad Ocho Cinco!!

That's right, Chad Johnson has legally changed his last name to Ocho Cinco (a name his coach HATES)!! Actually his official name is now Chad Javon Ocho Cinco. From the Bengals webpage in reference to marketing potential:

“It’s something I don’t think anyone has ever done before. Have I ever had a reason for why I do what I do? I’m having fun.”

Whatever!

Mendenhall to be Featured on NFL Show

The Steelers posted on their webpage today that their rookie running back, Rashard Mendenhall will be one of five rookies featured on "Hey Rookie, Welcome to the NFL," which is scheduled to air on Tuesday, September 2nd at 8 PM on ESPN2 and will be shown again on Thursday, September 4th at 3 PM again on ESPN2.

The cameras follow each selected rookie from draft day to the final cuts for an exclusive inside look at a rookie's journey through this exciting and stressful experience along with his life outside of football for a rare look at a more personal side like what they enjoy doing in their free time - for Mendenhall, that includes playing the saxophone and clarinet.

“They came to my house before I left for training camp,” said Mendenhall. “They came for a few visits to see what was going on. They talked to me a few times during training camp.”

Has Mendenhall Learned to Hold On to the Football?

It looks like money isn't the answer to help Rashard Mendenhall learn how to hold on to the football.


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.