Aubrey Bruce
I have grown weary as I am sure many NFL fans have of picking up the daily paper or reading the latest blog profiling another athlete being accused or convicted of using performance enhancing drugs.
The latest culprits accused of violating the league’s illegal drug use policies are former Steelers and current Indy Colts tight end Weslye Saunders and free agent receiver Bert Reed. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell could eliminate Illegal drug usage immediately. He could say listen if anyone is caught using performance enhancing or any other illegal drugs then they will have to abide by the “two strikes and you’re out” policy. Strike one, warn the player without a suspension or fine. Strike two, expel the player permanently, no exceptions. No more third chances.
Blogger Baudilio6 had this to say about the current situation. “Steelers 100 percent & always…but did it bother anyone else that the great ’70s run may have been steroid fuel’d. Different era, much less a news item back then, but the Steelers did seem to pioneer the crazy-strong offensive linemen [familiar] with the power lifting culture. Kolb, Webster, Courson.”
Greatness may sometimes be tainted but in these days the more chances and appeals that a player is given the more chances that athlete they have to evade detection. If a player is not good enough to compete honestly then I humbly suggest that they get on with their life’s work. All of the geniuses that cover the NFL promoted Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders after the man who sat in the first chair for Pittsburgh bailed to the sunny shores of the Miami Dolphins. Duh, of course when you are the third man on the totem pole and the first chair “gets ghost” then the second fiddle becomes the first banana and so on.
Although he has some big shoes to fill, Sanders seems to be up for the task. “They’re expecting 70 catches for 1,000 yards, and that’s the same thing that I expect for myself.” We shall see won’t we? when you become one of the featured guys often times your vibe as well as the vibe of the opposing defenders changes. No longer are you a decoy because the target on your back becomes humongous.
Two things caught the New England Patriots as well as the rest of the professional football world by surprise. the first being big, strong New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowsi seems less like to get stoned in a Chinese Bistro and more prone to be more like a fragile China doll. The All-Pro tight end first broke his left forearm last November, and broke it again in the first quarter of the playoff game against Houston in January. He underwent a third operation in February when an infection developed. That surgery was necessary to change the metal plate which had been inserted in Gronkowski’s arm.
The second factor that might prompt New England Head Coach Bill Belichick to dust off the ole video camera was the arrest of the Patriots other tight end, Aaron Hernandez who was detained and eventually charged with allegedly being a co-conspirator in multiple homicides. All of those multiple motion and misdirection plays that have dominated the Patriots offensive game plan in the past may have now been reduced to slow motion. See, folks the way the “Swami” looks at it when any of us does and promotes foul deeds then the chickens will always come home to roost and in most cases their stomachs will be full as they prepare to poo-poo all over you. Do you believe in ghosts’? Do you believe in what goes around might stop in your area? Let’s get to the question of; do you believe in ghosts’? former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Donnie Shell was a true “ghost buster” as he personally helped remove the rattling of the “skeleton” of losing from the closet of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Shell was the type of guy that you might not want to run into in the middle of an alley, in the middle of the night showing all of his teeth in a wicked smile armed with the X-ray vision and a steel forearm. The Steelers seem to have maybe found a formula to rekindle some of the past glory of their storied past by selecting former Syracuse DB Shamarko Thomas. Thomas was drafted in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second chair in the 2013 season at strong safety backing up Troy Polamalu. Thomas is a thick short defender with a Donnie Shell like attitude who will hit and attack anything that moves; never taking in consideration the new “Red Bow” and pink dress policy of the NFL.
When All-World defensive back Donnie Shell patrolled the sacred waters of the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive backfield the motto of the Steelers defense was; “kill and let die.”
The Steelers cannot rely on “swagger” in order to bring home the bacon in 2013, they must make their offensive opponents “stagger” back to the huddle or the sidelines with little or no will to continue. Shamarko Thomas must be part of the what-goes-around-comes-around team. No missed tackle can be taken for granted. Every unnecessary roughness call, or illegal contact infraction does nothing for Pittsburgh. All infractions are is a distraction and an opportunity to move the chains forward for the opposing squad.
The Pittsburgh Steelers cannot afford to rely on the aura of past success to intimidate or influence the competitive spirit that takes place on the gridiron.
The ghosts’ of Joe Green and Dwight White and cannot make one tackle or sack one quarterback. The goblins of times past cannot run for or catch a touchdown.
There is a new day to look forward to by the Pittsburgh Steelers and their faithful. There is no hiding place from the glare of success or failure.
(Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741)
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