Steelers sign special rookie

What are you doing with your summer vacation?

Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers have done one very good deed. Together with the Make-A-Wish Foundation they made 14-year-old Akeem Havens' day, fulfilling Havens' wish to become a Pittsburgh Steeler.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert opened a news conference by saying negotiations with Havens' agent (his seven-year-old brother James), had been tough, but that the two sides had agreed to a deal. The day began with Dan Rooney presenting Havens with a Steelers jersey (his name embroidered on the back), and included a videogame session with Roethlisberger, as well as lunch with Big Ben's teammates.

Pittsburgh station KDKA has video of Havens' day: http://kdka.com/video/?id=41933@kdka.dayport.com

Steelers 2008 draft wrap-up

Guest commentary by Nick Beckwith:

Steelers' director of football operations Kevin Colbert can definitely get off his warm chair; in fact he is entitled to take a load off on a new leather barcalounger with four-way motorized shiatsu massage. But if the Steelers are to be congratulated for not chasing needs on the first day they can be fairly criticized for paying too little attention to them on the second.

As it stands now, Pittsburgh will enter the season with perilously little depth on its offensive line and at defensive end. The Steelers did get a number of tough breaks with good prospects snagged just before it was their turn to pick, but they should be congratulated for not panicking and taking advantage of opportunities in less expected directions.

Should Colbert be on the hot seat?

Guest contribution courtesy of Nick Beckwith ...

Pittsburgh’s recent first round successes — Troy Polamalu (2003), Ben Roethlisberger (2004), Heath Miller (2005) and Santonio Holmes (2006) — have masked a problem, namely relatively poor drafting in later rounds. Over the last five years the team has drafted only six starters, and Brett Keisel (7th round) is one of the few late round players to blossom into a significant contributor. Therefore, if director of football operations Kevin Colbert is not on the hot seat, his chair should at least be a bit warm.

It is easy to criticize the man in front of the big board; it is more difficult to offer solutions. But I have, if not a solution, at least a new approach, which is simply the re-emphasis of an old approach. Pittsburgh must draft Steelers — players of high character and a strong work ethic who also display a love of hitting. I advocate drafting players whose idea of “going clubbing” is spending four hours in the free-weight section of Gold’s Gym.

Chuck Noll was of the opinion that his job was not to motivate players, but to teach motivated young men to be better players. I’m not saying the Steelers should ignore ‘triangle numbers’ (height, weight, 40-yard dash time) or the results of the various athletic tests of the Combine. I’m saying that football is a team game, and a united warrior attitude is the most important among many determinants of wins and championships. While so-called project players of great potential should not be eschewed, on-field production should be the defining characteristic of most of the players acquired in this (or any) Pittsburgh Steelers draft.

Thankful for Big Ben? Me too.

In an earlier post The Steelyard provided a sneak preview of the new Dan Rooney book, "My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL" (Da Capo), in which Rooney lets it slip that he intervened to make sure the Steelers drafted Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th pick of the 2004 draft (instead of OT Shawn Andrews, who Bill Cowher apparently preferred). Thank goodness Rooney stepped in and backed Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert, who also championed Roethlisberger. This pivotal decision enabled the Steelers to win a Super Bowl, and may well afford the organization the opportunity to win more Super Bowls in the next six or eight years.

Interestingly, it seems like many Steelers' fans underestimate the value of Big Ben. It's hard to fathom how fans can criticize him and say things like, "Big Ben makes me crazy sometimes" or "He makes too many mistakes." Have these fans lost their minds? Or have they simply become spoiled? I'll go on record right now and say that Roethlisberger is already the best QB in franchise history. In this era he may never win four Super Bowls like Terry Bradshaw did but that doesn't change the fact that he has been better ... sooner ... than just about any QB in NFL history. His career record is 39-14 (which rivals the winning percentage of Tom Brady) and if one eliminates the 2006 (accident-appendectomy-concussion) season he's lost a grand total of only six starts (32-6). His career yards per attempt is among the best in NFL history and his post-season record is 5-1. Like every NFL QB he throws interceptions from time to time, but what goes unmentioned is that he fumbles the ball much less often than other QB's. And, as columnist Stan Savran explains in "Thankful for Big Ben", he makes the talent around him look better than it really is.

I think the Steelers have to be concerned that his career may be relatively short, thanks to the cumulative effect of the injuries he has suffered. But let's make no mistake: Big Ben is on course for the Hall of Fame, even if he can't get elected to a Pro Bowl.