Steeler Great To Lead Scholarship Program

Steeler Hall of Famer Franco Harris has been named the chairman of the Pittsburgh Promise.  The Promise is a joint venture between the city of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh School District.  The 250-million dollar fund will provide college scholarships to most students who graduate from city schools.  The program is one of the first of its kind in the country.

#1 Draft Pick Mendenhall Robbed at Gunpoint in Chicago

New Steelers running back Rasheed Mendenhall, who was the teams top draft pick two weeks ago, was robbed at gunpoint in Chicago early Monday morning according to the Chicago Sun-Times.  Mendenhall, who was not injured, was walking along the South Side lakefront around 2am when two people robbed him of his phone, cash and wallet.  “It was obviously a scary moment,” said his agent, Mike McCartney of Priority Sports. “But he is fine. He is doing great. He said he doesn’t have anything that is worth his life.”

Mendenhall was in Pittsburgh for the teams recent mini-camp, but sat out some of the later sessions with sore a hamstring.  He left Illinois after his junior year to enter the draft, and was regarded as one of the top running backs in the draft, and was the third back taken with the 23rd overall pick.  Reports say that the robbers that robbed Mendenhall wore black hoods and ski masks.  As of the late afternoon, no one was in custody.

Steelers Wrap Up Mini-Camp

The Steelers wrapped up their mini-camp at their Southside facility on Sunday with a promising rookie and two veterans on the sidelines.  First round draft choice Rashard Mendenhall suffered a groin pull on Friday and was ruled out of the weekend’s on field activities.  Both safety Troy Polamalu and wide receiver Hines Ward sat out the entire camp recovering from off-season knee surgery.  The Steelers will not return to their off season workouts until May 20th.

ESPN’s Hashmarks Chimes in from Steelers MiniCamp

ESPN columnist James Walker is at Steelers minicamp and shared his thoughts today on Hashmarks

Hashmarks is live this weekend at Steelers minicamp. Here are some observations from Day 1:

-Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger asked for bigger targets during the off-season and the team is trying to accommodate him. Outside of the starters, most of Pittsburgh’s receiver group resembles an NBA basketball team. Rookie Limas Sweed (6-foot-4), Matt Trannon (6-6) and Dallas Baker (6-3) are all lanky. So are tight ends Heath Miller (6-5) and Matt Spaeth (6-7).

-Veteran receiver Hines Ward did not participate because he’s recovering from minor knee surgery. He had a slight PCL and MCL tear in his knee that he played through most of the season. Steelers safety Troy Polamalu also sat out to rest his knee.

-First impression of rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall is impressive. He’s thick, stays low to the ground, caught the ball well and made some nice moves out of the backfield.

-The most jubilant player in Pittsburgh’s locker room today was rookie and former Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon. Although he’s only “85 percent,” today was Dixon’s first action since a major knee injury ended his Heisman Trophy campaign. Dixon, who will be limited this weekend, was a fifth-round pick of the Steelers and likely will be used in the “Slash” role on trick plays.

“The doctors back in Oregon say they could fully release me in about a month,” Dixon said. “I want to do more than what I’m doing now, but the doctors are trying to keep it cool and calm, which I understand.”

-For all the hardcore Steelers fans, the rookie jersey numbers for 2008 are in. Mendenhall will wear No. 34, Sweed No. 14, Dixon No. 2 and linebacker Bruce Davis will wear No. 53.

Big Ben Likes What the Steelers Did in the Draft

It looks as if the Steelers Draft over the weekend gets the seal of approval from franchise QB Ben Roethlisberger.  In today’s Tribune-Review, Big Ben spoke out about what the Steelers did over the weekend that he liked.  “I like the draft. We did a good job all around,” he said.  What had to please Ben the most was the weapons the team picked up on offense - first round RB Rashard Mendenhall, and second round WR Limas Sweed.  A “tall” wide out is something that Ben wanted, and it was something the Steelers gave him in Sweed.

With that though, Ben admitted he doesn’t know a whole lot about Sweed.  “I think he only played a couple of games last year and then he got hurt,” Roethlisberger said. “I know the name. People talk about him — I know that much. I don’t know much else.”  When it comes to Mendenhall, it gives the Steelers their best 1-2 punch at running back they have had since the days of Eric Pegram and Bam Morris.  That team went to the Super Bowl in the 1995 season.  “There was some talk a little bit about trying to get a pound-it guy (at running back). We’ve got guys. It’s not like we don’t have running backs,” Roethlisberger said. “Same thing with the wide receiver. We’ve got guys, so there’s no real rush to push anybody into the starting spot. If they develop into it, I guess they develop into it.”

Dixon to Do What He Does Best - Play QB

Today’s Tribune-Review states that despite his “slash” like abilities, don’t look for draft pick Dennis Dixon to be playing any other position for the Black and Gold other than QB. Dixon, who was taken in the 5th round, is going to be groomed to be the eventual backup, taking the role of Charlie Batch when Batch is ready to walk away. The ACL injury that he suffered last season will limit him in practices, but he is ahead of schedule according to his words, and hopefully will be a factor down the road. There is no doubt that if he didn’t tear his ACL, he wouldn’t be a Steeler today. “He has great physical talent,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “He can run, he has a strong arm, and he is coming to a great situation where he can grow behind two people like Ben and Charlie.”

Steelers Free Agents

A day after the completion of the NFL Draft the Steelers have announced that they have signed a dozen undrafted free agents who will be invited to training camp.  For the first time in several years none of the players is from Western Pennsylvania.  The players are wide receiver and kick returner Dorien Bryant of Purdue, quarterback Mike Potts of William & Mary, linebacker Patrick Bailey of Duke, center Doug Legursky of Marshall, cornerback Roy Lewis of Washington, defensive lineman Martavius Prince of Southern Mississippi, place kicker Julian Rauch of Appalachian State,  defensive linemab Jordan Reffett of Washington, wide receiver Micah Rucker of Eastern Illinois, tight end Dezmond Sherrod of Mississippi State, cornerback Travis Williams of East Carolina and linebacker Donovan Woods of Oklahoma State.

Another Columist Who Loves What the Steelers Did Over the Weekend

Count ESPN writer James Walker as another columnist that loves what the Steelers did over the weekend. Today Walker wrote the following in his column about draft moves made by the AFC North:

Best move

The best move was actually two moves made by the Pittsburgh Steelers. General manager Kevin Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin ignored the team’s most glaring need — offensive line — on Day 1 and opted to go with the best available players. Those two players were Illinois’ Mendenhall at No. 23 and Texas receiver Limas Sweed at No. 53. Both players graded out as first-round talents in most projections, meaning Pittsburgh got tremendous value for its picks.

The Steelers didn’t necessarily need a tailback or a receiver. But pairing Mendenhall with Willie Parker and adding Sweed to the receiving duo of Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes will make defensive coordinators around the league cringe this season.

Yahoo Sports Gives the Steelers an “A” on the Draft

Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports has broken down the 2008 NFL Draft, and the Steelers in his eyes earned an “A.”  Here is the breakdown from Cole:

Picks: RB Rashard Mendenhall, WR Limas Sweed, DE Bruce Davis, OT Tony Hills, QB Dennis Dixon, LB Mike Humpal, S Ryan Mundy
Positives: Mendenhall, Sweed, Davis and Dixon
Negatives: Hills
Bottom line: A. This is a truly great draft, although it’s unlikely Dixon will get a chance to develop as a passer with Ben Roethlisberger entrenched. A month ago, there was a debate about who the second-best back in the draft was after Darren McFadden and many people thought it was Mendenhall. Then he fell behind Jonathan Stewart and Felix Jones. The Steelers nabbed a falling value, a great move in drafting. Sweed has awesome talent and Davis will convert to an OLB and has the quickness to be another great pass rusher in the Steelers’ 3-4 system. The injured Dixon was a great value in the fifth round.

Steelers Finish Draft

In the sixth round the Steelers took linebacker Mike Humpel from Iowa and with the pick secured from the Giants took Woodland Hills grad Ryan Mundy who played his senior season at safety for West Virginia.  The Steelers took Illinois running back Rachard Mendenhall in the first round Saturday and wide receiver Limas Sweed of Texas with their second round pick.