Be Like Tike

Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 by Matt Felser

Steelers’ Training Camp Recap

I just spent the day watching the Steelers practice at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe. Between complaining about both the heat and the distance to the parking lot, I was about to pick up a bunch of things. Hit the jump for some of observations and some pictures.

Steeler fans will do anything for an autograph. I saw a five year old kid being coached by his dad to run up to Ben and show him a homemade jersey. Normally, it would have been a cute gesture, but the kid obviously didn’t even know who Roethlisberger was; it was a ploy to get a signature for his father.
Steeler fans aren’t always the most intelligent people. I heard at least three “Where’s Joey Porter?”s, and I saw people fighting for the signature of some guy who will never make the team. They let some random guy write his name on their hat. My signature is more valuable, as several hundred people will still know who I am in a few weeks.
Speaking of foolish fans, I heard a dozen different pronunciations of Ricardo Colclough’s surname. He must have a rough time…even the play-by-play announcers in Madden get his name wrong.
Is Walter Young wearing camo under his jersey?
Linebacker Lawrence Timmons will be a bust. He will have an exceptionally disappointing career. Why do I say this? He handed out autographs to everyone standing next to me, but when it was my turn, he turned around and went inside. Mr. Timmons: you have made a moderately powerful enemy.
Punter Daniel Sepulveda is an incredibly nice guy. He signed autographs for every single person he saw, and he let all of the young children go first. He is a class act, not to mention a freakish athlete. He is bigger than Joey Porter and runs the 40 yard dash as quickly as Devin Hester. If you haven’t seen the video of him booming a 50+ yard punt and then running down the field to level the returner, I suggest you look it up on YouTube.
Max Starks is now a defensive tackle, according to the rosters handed out by the team. I can only hope it is a typo.
It would appear that Willie Parker was held out of practice for the second straight day.
For unknown reasons, Roethlisberger ran very few reps with the first team offense. Receivers ran routes for him in drills, but he did not lead the offense. Brian St. Pierre and Virginia Tech’s Bryan Randall had plenty of snaps.
As several others have suggested, Willie Reid appears to be in for a big year, now that he has finally healed. He showed great returning skills playing for Florida State, and he blew by everyone in kickoff drills. Even though the defense wasn’t allowed to tackle him, he displayed plenty of elusiveness.
Jeff Reed has grown quite the mullet.
I’m disappointed with the Steelers’ choice to have a mascot for this season. I was under the impression that the Rooneys’ preferred no-nonsense games, and disliked diversions such as cheerleaders. It would be nice if they at least gave the guy a name. They held a competition to come up with his name and were supposed to announce a winner on Friday, but it has been delayed indefinitely.
Chuck Noll Stadium looks great. What was once a patch of grass on a hillside has turned into bleachers, an announcing booth, and a concession stand. Its nice to see the team give back to St. Vincent’s.
Finally, how does Coach Tomlin do it? He wears all black in the scorching heat, including a long sleeve shirt.