Pittsburgh police have made an arrest in the stabbing of #Steelers OT Mike Adams — Dale Lolley (@dlolleyor) June 3, 2013 More info when it becomes available will be posted here. Update: Police this afternoon said they charged Michael Paranay, 25, of Hazelwood, with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and conspiracy. He was being held in the Allegheny County Jail, and police said they continue to seek other suspects in the stabbing. Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/arrest-made-in-stabbing-of-steelers-tackle-michael-adams-690222/#ixzz2VCIEIG4G Pittsburgh Steelers second year offensive tackle Mike Adams has been hospitalized after being stabbed last night. Adams was stabbed in what is considered an apparent robbery attempt according to Steelers.com. Via the Steelers official twitter account: “@steelers: Second-year offensive tackle @Channel75live (Mike Adams) was injured & is hospitalized after being stabbed in an apparent robbery attempt.” “We are aware of the situation regarding Mike Adams being stabbed earlier this morning,” Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert said. “We are in direct communication with both Mike and his family. Mike is expected to make a full recovery.” Adams also took to twitter this morning: “I had an angel lookin out for me! Ill be ok just gotta fight to get back harder then ever.” Currently Adams is still recovering in the hospital and is expected to be the Steelers starting right tackle during the upcoming season.
Read more →According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the Pittsburgh Steelers have signed seventh round pick Nick Williams. That means Williams as well as second round pick Le’Veon Bell and first round pick Jarvis Jones have all signed with the team in the last few hours. Steelers also come to terms with 7th round pick Nicholas Williams, a DE. Leaves only QB Landry Jones left to sign. — Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) June 3, 2013 These draft picks are being signed now that the Steelers have cap space from cutting Willie Colon back in March. Colon has been a member of the New York Jets for a couple of months now, but the Steelers just gained the cap space from cutting him after designating him as a June cut. Nick Williams Draft Info from April: The Pittsburgh Steelers needed to find depth on the defensive line and they grab just that as they finish out their 2013 NFL Draft with Nick Williams who will play defensive end in the 3-4 defense with the Steelers. Williams was lightly recruited out of High School after playing only one season and he decided to go to Samford to play at a school close to his home. In 2009, he played in seven games and had three tackles. The following year, he played in 11 games.. In 2011, he became a full-time starter, and played in every game. He had 23 tackles and two sacks. Williams had his best year in his redshirt senior season. He tallied 31 tackles and six sacks. He was All-Southern Conference second-team in 2011, and first-team in 2012. Williams was an even more explosive athlete than Shariff Floyd at the NFL Scouting Combine, but as Mike Mayock said about him that didn’t show up on tape. The Steelers will hope
Read more →When offensive tackle Mike Adams tested positive for marijuana at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine many believed he was off of the Steelers draft board. However, after making a personal visit to the Steelers facility to get back on their board the Steelers put their faith back in Adams as a player on and, more importantly, off the field. During his college career at Ohio State Adams served a suspension for breaking school rules and was considered to be a risk. That one on one meeting with the Steelers, however, convinced them that he could change and when he was still available in the second round, despite being originally believed to be a first round pick, the Steelers took a chance on him. Heading into the 2013 season Adams was expected to take over as the Steelers starting right tackle. The only thing putting that in jeopardy now is an off-field incident that may, but more likely may not, actually be Adams fault whatsoever. Adams was involved in a stabbing incident two days ago. According to reports three men attempted to steal Adams truck in a robbery and one of the men had a gun on Adams. However, Adams’ keys were with a local valet service and during the altercation he was stabbed. He was rushed to the hospital and it took 33 staples to close up his injuries. Below is a look at Adams injuries post-surgery: Steelers GM Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin have both said they expect Adams to make a full recovery and luckily for him no organs were hit in the stabbing. Adams’ agent expects Adams to be ready to go for training camp. He has remained positive on his twitter account and just sent out a picture of him with one of
Read more →According to Bob Labriola of Steelers.com the Pittsburgh Steelers have signed second round pick Le’Veon Bell and first round pick Jarvis Jones to four-year deals. Both players were signed in the last few hours now that the Steelers have cap space from cutting Willie Colon back in March. Colon has been a member of the New York Jets for a couple of months now, but the Steelers just gained the cap space from cutting him after designating him as a June cut. Jones (linebacker), the 17th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, told Steelers.com, “I think it’s a blessing. I wanted to get it out of the way so I can continue to focus on my career.” While the amount of money he received has not been released, the deal is for four years. “The organization and my agent did a great job of getting it out of the way so it won’t be a distraction going into training camp. I’m going to be fully focused and ready to go out there and give everything I’ve got to help my teammates.” While playing three years with the University of Georgia (2010-12), Jones started in all 26 games with the team. His 28.0 sack record at Georgia tied him with Jimmy Payne (1978-82) for third in school history. A member of several All-American first teams, Jones was a finalist for the Butkus Award, Bednarik Trophy, LOTT Impact Trophy and the Lombardi Trophy. Bell was the 48th overall selection in the 2013 NFL Draft and played collegiate ball at Michigan State. In the 40 games he played for the Spartans, Bell rushed for 3,346 yards and 33 touchdowns. Bell won the Big Ten rushing title his senior year with a recorded 1,743 yards. Bell was also an All-Big Ten Conference first-team
Read more →Pittsburgh Steelers second year offensive tackle Mike Adams has been hospitalized after being stabbed last night. Adams was stabbed in what is considered an apparent robbery attempt according to Steelers.com. Via the Steelers official twitter account: “@steelers: Second-year offensive tackle @Channel75live (Mike Adams) was injured & is hospitalized after being stabbed in an apparent robbery attempt.” “We are aware of the situation regarding Mike Adams being stabbed earlier this morning,” Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert said. “We are in direct communication with both Mike and his family. Mike is expected to make a full recovery.” Adams also took to twitter this morning: “I had an angel lookin out for me! Ill be ok just gotta fight to get back harder then ever.” Hopefully Adams will make a full and speedy recovery, but this is a very scary situation. Currently Adams is expected to be the Steelers starting right tackle during the upcoming season.
Read more →Immediately following the 2012 season the Pittsburgh Steelers cut running back Chris Rainey due to off-field issues. Rainey, the Steelers fifth round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, was a jack of all trades for the team last season returning kicks, catching passes and running the ball. He was supposed to be the team’s new weapon on offense and mirror Todd Haley’s former weapon in Kansas City Dexter McCluster. However, three off-field incidents during his rookie year as well as a history of issues in college forced the Steelers to let Rainey go. They are now looking to one of Haley’s former weapons from his time with the Arizona Cardinals to possible replace Rainey. Larod Stephens-Howling played college football at Pitt before being drafted by the Cardinals and, like Rainey, has been an all-around player during his career. “I hope I can bring a change of pace to this offense,” Stephens-Howling said according to Steelers.com. I’ve seen a lot of third-down opportunities that Coach Todd Haley has always had other places. So, it’s a great opportunity for me, and I’m just competing to be able to help in September.” Stephens-Howling has returned kicks, caught passes and ran the ball out of the backfield in the NFL. He is a smaller back at only 5’7″ and 180 pounds, but he makes up for his small size with speed in the 4.4′s. That makes him the fastest running back currently on the Steelers roster, which means that he should have a good chance at making the team as a third-down back. If Stephens-Howling does make the roster that will account for two of the Steelers running backs because 2013 second round pick Le’Veon Bell is guaranteed a spot at this point. That leaves only two spots, most likely, for three players in Jonathan Dwyer,
Read more →Currently the Pittsburgh Steelers have the second lowest amount of cap space in the NFL.The only team with less space under the cap is the Oakland Raiders. However, both teams are about to have some much needed relief when it comes to the salary cap. The Raiders cut safety Michael Huff this off-season, who will now be replacing Ed Reed for the Baltimore Ravens, and his almost $8 million in cap savings will come free tomorrow. As for the Steelers, back in March when they cut Willie Colon, but they designated him as a June 1st cut. That means the $5.5 million saved from cutting him won’t be seen on the books until tomorrow. That also means the Steelers will have about $6 million in cap space and plenty of room to make some moves if they choose to do so. There shouldn’t be any major moves in terms of signings for the Steelers at this point in time, but they could make a few minor moves to solidify their roster. They also need to finish signing their draft picks and that will take a small chunk out of that $6 million. As far as veteran targets go the Steelers will, most likely at least, look to bring back center/guard Doug Legursky. Legursky has been a free agent all off-season, but has yet to find a home. His ability to play center and guard and his strong play when needed in recent years makes him a good candidate to get another deal with the team now that they will have the cap space to give it to him. There was a report that the Steelers were planning to sign wide receiver Steve Breaston once they had the cap room to do so, but all has gone quiet on that front. After
Read more →On Tuesday, ESPN Radio announced that it has come to a multi-year agreement with the Pittsburgh Steelers to broadcast out-of-market national action. The Sunday afternoon broadcasts will begin during the 2013 season. In addition to the Steelers, ESPN Radio has also signed agreements with the New York Giants, New York Jets, New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins. ESPN senior vice president, production business divisions’ Traug Keller said, “Adding the NFL to ESPN Radio’s play-by-play mix, which already includes MLB, NBA, BCA and the new college football championship starting in 2015, strengthens and already unparalleled and valuable lineup to advertisers, our affiliates and sports fans. Keller added, “We are excited to enter the NFL game business.” Herm Edwards, Bill Polian and Damien Woody, ESPN NFL analysts, will be assigned several of ESPN Radio’s national broadcasts. While additional commentators are expected to join the lineup, the complete schedule has yet to be announced. Locally, the Steelers games will continue to be broadcast through their official local stations. Dean Jones, an NFL insider, calls the agreement a “boon for the Steelers.” While Steelers fans span the world, many can’t follow the games in real-time. Some local radio stations are on iHeart Radio and broadcast feeds via the internet have allowed people across the country to follow along, a national ESPN Radio agreement will allow die-hard fans greater access to play-by-play. “With possibly the largest NFL fan-base, the Steelers will now be able to give something more to the fans through the agreement,” said Jones. “The fact that ESPN Radio chose the Pittsburgh market over so many teams says something great about the recognition ESPN is offering the organization.” Follow SteelBlitz’s Blog for updated information about the broadcasts when they are announced.
Read more →The Pittsburgh Steelers have always liked players that could be versatile and play multiple positions. That is one of the reasons Trai Essex, who could play all five positions on the offensive line, stuck with the team for seven years. It is also something that the Steelers look for in most of their back-up players. Back-ups that can play multiple positions and that can play special teams are more valuable than players that can’t. That is one of the reasons I believe sixth round pick Justin Brown will beat out Plaxico Burress for the fifth receiver spot this off-season. Brown can return punts and player special teams, which makes the roster spot more valuable than simply giving it to Burress who would simply be a fifth receiver. Building versatility is also something that the Steelers are trying to do this off-season. They are particularly doing so with two of their lineman, Kelvin Beachum and Al Woods. The Steelers are hoping that Woods and Beachum can play all of the line positions for the team in 2013. Woods was a fourth round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2010 and seems to have finally found a home with the Steelers. Woods served as a back-up defensive end for the team during the 2012 season, but this off-season the Steelers are trying to broaden his abilities. Al Woods told me that the coaches told him they want him to play all 3 DL positions. Yes, that includes NT.He said he is running 2nd team NT — Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly_Trib) May 28, 2013 The fact that the Steelers want Woods to learn all three defensive line positions means two things for him. First, it means that he will continue to be a back-up. If he was set to be a starter he wouldn’t be focusing
Read more →Week 7: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers Date/Time: Sunday October 20, 2013 at 4:25 PM ET Location: Heinz Field; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Ravens 2012 record: 10-6 Steelers 2012 record: 8-8 Head-To-Head Record: 19-15 Steelers Offensive Rankings: Passing: Ravens: 15th Steelers: 14th Rushing: Ravens: 11th Steelers: 26th Overall: Ravens: 16th Steelers: 21st Defensive Rankings: Passing: Ravens: 17th Steelers: 1st Rushing: Ravens: 20th Steelers: 2nd Overall: Ravens: 17th Steelers: 1st Offseason Additions: Ravens: OLB Elvis Dumervil, S Michael Huff, DT Marcus Spears Steelers: TE Matt Spaeth, CB William Gay, QB Bruce Gradkowski Key Draft Picks: Ravens: S Matt Elam, LB Arthur Brown, DT Brandon Williams Steelers: LB Jarvis Jones, RB Le’Veon Bell, WR Markus Wheaton Overview: Week 7 will be the first match-up between the Steelers and Ravens since last season when the Steelers upset the Ravens behind a miraculous performance by Charlie Batch. However, after that game both teams season’s went in very different directions. The Steelers struggled and missed the playoffs and the Ravens took control of the division and rode a playoff run all the way to a Super Bowl win. Watching their arch-rivals win the Super Bowl should light a fire under the Steelers for the 2013 season. This will be a very important game in terms of who wins the AFC North division, but it will have a lot of new faces on each side of the ball. James Harrison, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are all gone, but each has been replaced and both teams are expecting big things from some young players who will be pushed into the starting line-ups this upcoming season. Depending on how the first six weeks go for each of these teams this game could be for and early edge in the division. What makes this game very important for the Steelers is that they need to control their home field no matter who they are playing and letting the Ravens come
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