WR Holmes took off Steelers jersey to join Jets

After spending all his first four career years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, wide receiver Santonio Holmes finally had to say goodbye to his No. 10 Steelers jersey. He was traded to the New York Jets by the Steelers on Sunday night for a fifth-round draft pick this month. While the Steelers felt getting rid of a trouble-causer, the Jets happily accepted a great help in passing game.

Being named the 2009 Super Bowl MVP, Holmes has 235 career catches for 3,835 yards and 20 touchdowns during the past career. However, he kept getting troubled off the field. The latest trouble is a lawsuit against him from a woman, who claims the 26-year-old receiver threw a glass at her, cutting her above the eye, in an Orlando nightclub. Before that he used to be arrested for possession of marijuana in 2008 and involved in a domestic violence incident in 2006.

Lucky for Holmes, what matters in Jets is only his talent in football. The team has shown an open mind to players with questionable backgrounds. They traded for receiver Braylon Edwards two days after the Cleveland Browns released him for punching a friend of NBA star LeBron James, and they also acquired cornerback Antonio Cromartie from the San Diego Chargers even though the back is dealing with paternity issues. They are even interested in bringing in former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, who is serving a prison sentence for possessing unlicensed gun.

Steelers do not plan to look for replacement to Roethlisberger

Despite the lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers seem confident that the quarterback will be fine enough to be available for the 2010 season and they do not have any plan to draft a quarterback using their high picks.

According to director of football operations Kevin Colbert, the job of starting quarterback is set to be given to Roethlisberger, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student in Milledgeville, Ga. and is receiving investigations.

Roethlisberger has not been charged with a crime yet and his attorney, Ed Garland, has denied that Roethlisberger has committed a crime. However, Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin expressed his concern about the situation, seeming less confident than Colbert about the quarterback’s returning. If the quarterback is charged with a crime, will the Steelers get a replacement quick enough to fill in? Let’s stay tuned.

No deal is done: Steelers safety Clark is ready to join market

Although the Pittsburgh Steelers remain in touch with pending unrestricted free agent safety Ryan Clark, no deal has been done yet while it is only one day left before the March 5 deadline. Clark is getting prepared to hit the open market on Friday morning as a free agent.

"Right now, communication is open," Clark’s agent, Joel Turner, told National Football Post today. "We’ve agreed to stay in touch. Neither party has shut the door."

Steelers director of football operations said that Clark is a high priority during the NFL scouting combine. But it’s been more than a week since the Steelers locked up nose tackle Casey Hampton with a new contract and used a franchise tag to retain kicker Jeff Reed, and the Steelers and Clark have not agreed on a new contract.

Neither Clark nor Turner is worrying about anything. If the Steelers do not take action in time, they would be glad to hit the free agent market to test Clark’s value. It’s no need to regret for taking off Steelers jersey because there are more and better chances outside the Pittsburgh, they believe.

Steelers gave tag to Kicker Reed after finalized deal with NT Hampton

Instead of following the Patriots, 49ers and Packers to place franchise tag on nose tackles, the Pittsburgh Steelers turned to tag kicker Jeff Reed as they have agreed to a deal with nose tackle Casey Hampton in time before the deadline for franchise tag.

According to ESPN reports, the Steelers signed contract both with Hampton and director of football operations Kevin Colbert. Thus Reed will not become free agent but stay in Steelers jersey with a three-year and $21 million contract that also includes $11 million guaranteed money.

The Steelers should be happy to be able to retain both key players. Nine-year veteran Hampton had 43 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks last season and is expected to remain a Steeler for his rest of career. Eight-year veteran Reed made 27 of 31 field goal attempts last season. Their staying makes Steelers fan be hopeful that their beloved team will win more Super Bowl rings.

Former Steelers LB Olsavsky is to coach current Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers may think that someone familiar with the team history and system could be more qualified to join the coaching staff than many others. With such belief, they named Jerry Olsavsky their new defensive quality control coach.

Jerry Olsavsky, age 42, seven-season linebackers coach for Youngstown State, and first-team Kodak All-American of 1998 as a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, spent nine of his ten NFL seasons with the Steelers. Putting on Steelers jersey in 1998 as a tenth round draft pick, Olsavsky played linebacker with the team from 1989 to 1997 and spent his last career season with the Baltimore Ravens.

Despite being considered undersized as a player, Olsavsky was known for being a fearless competitor and a tireless worker, who played in 108 games for the Steelers and made 227 tackles while also excelling on special teams throughout his career. In his new position with the Steelers, Olsavsky will assist all areas of the defensive staff in their daily operations.

Steelers won season finale but failed to reach playoff

The Pittsburgh Steelers ended their season at 9-7 by winning Sunday night’s season finale 30-24 over the Miami Dolphins. Here it is an end in real sense, as Baltimore Ravens’ 21-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders eliminated Steelers’ chance to play into playoffs.

The reigning Super Bowl champions lost their advantage earlier after a late-season five-game losing streak, losing three games respectively to the woeful Chiefs, Raiders and Browns in a span of 19 days.

But anyway the Steelers did not fail their fans so much as they ended the season with a win. Plenty of Steelers fans stayed with their team until the end. Many in the stadium wore black and gold Steelers jerseys to cheer for the visiting team, who sent two Miami quarterbacks to the sideline, including Pat White with a head injury.

The Dolphins also lost their chance to enter playoff. With two minutes left in their season finale against the Steelers, the Houston Texans beat the New England Patriots to remain alive for the playoffs. Winning the AFC East last season, the Dolphins did their best to climb to 7-6 from a 0-3 start. But they ended the season with another three-game losing streak.

Steelers kicker Reed sprained ankle and would skip Saturday preseason game

The Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Jeff Reed might not be able to play in Saturday’s exhibition game against the Buffalo Bills because he sprained his ankle during training camp.

Reed strained the ankle when he stepped in a hole late during training camp at Saint Vincent College. He was able to play last Saturday in the preseason game against the Washington Redskins and managed to hit on a 34-yard field-goal but failed to make it on a 48-yarder.

Some other players will miss for sure the Saturday game. They are quarterback Dennis Dixon, tight end Sean McHugh and right guard Darnell Stapleton. Questionable as Reed, wide receiver Santonio Holmes, running backs Willie Parke and Frank Summers are all with slight injury.

Steelers LB Farrior planned to report to training camp with more pounds

James Farrior led the Steelers in tackles last season, although he weighed less than he had since joining the NFL in 1997. Now he has made a plan to weigh up.

"This year, I've been focusing on going into camp a little bit heavier than I usually do, so the weight I'm probably going to lose in camp won't be as bad," said Farrior. He has been working out at Disney's Wide World of Sports with the help of conditioning coach Tom Shaw after he finished team workouts in June. Now even if he is willing to join the giants, they need to offer larger orleans saints jersey to him.

"The weight became a little bit of an issue toward the end of the season. I lost a little more weight than I expected to lose," Farrior said. "But it worked out well. We won the Super Bowl. I guess it didn't hurt too bad."

Farrior said that he just feels better to have extra weight. He believes that he will be 230 when the season starts.