gommo March 4th, 2008
The Steelers extended Ben Roethlisberger’s contract today to an 8-year, $102 MILLION dollar deal. That’s the largest contract ever for a Steeler and makes a massive statement that the Rooney’s are giving the keys to the Steelers to Big Ben. Let’s hope this helps bring another couple of Superbowl trophies to Pittsburgh.
Some interesting statistics from this
- He gets $25.2 million for just signing the contract
- Using his stats for last year this equates to $31,875 per pass attempt and $398,437.50 per touchdown.
I guess they felt sorry for him getting sacked so much last year. At least he’ll be able to pay for insurance 
Good on you Ben. Here we go Steelers, here we go !
gommo February 2nd, 2008
Well, its a day before Superbowl XLII and my Steelers have long since been out of the hunt. I got to browsing over my previous posts and saw a few of my questions I posted before the season. I thought it would be good to summaries my thoughts and results of them.
The questions where
- How will Mike Tomlin fair this season as the Steelers new head coach? Will he bring back that fire on defense that we have been sorely missing?
- Overall Tomlin did a pretty good job, however we failed dismally in applying consistent pressure to the QB. I really hoped our draft picks would help in that regard but that wasn’t to be. The defense did hold up in the statistical area but in reality, especially in the later part of the season, we were very soft. As poor as it was though, I do think that next year Timmons and Woodley will see the field more and that will help in the pressure department.
We need some better defensive lineman and a replacement for Haggans at LOLB. James Harrison was easily a better replacement for Porter who stunk up the joint in Miami this year. Poor Joey 
- Will Alan Faneca shut the f*(*ck up and play to his usual high standard?
- Hard to say here. Our OL played so poor that any half decent linemen would be ‘playing at a high standard’. The scarey part is that we kept our OL coach (all our coaches actually), and Kevin Colbert seems to have hinted that he thought the OL wasn’t that bad. Wake up mate, the OL is a joke!! Get a good free agent Tackle, resign Faneca and draft at least 2 stud lineman.
- Will our first 2 draft choices, both outside linebackers, help the pathetic pass rush we had last year?
- I’ve pretty much covered this. They played ok when they were in, which wasn’t much. Hopefully that will change. Woodley shows the most promise I think.
- Will Ben Roethlisberger return to form this year? He’s off to a good start without being in a head on motorcycle accident and his appendix is gone now
- We win and lose by how Ben plays. He had a terrific year but also was a big part of both the lose to the Jags in the wild card round but also the main reason behind the ‘almost’ come from behind victory. I think he’ll play even better next year especially if we can improve the OL and get some more depth at RB and maybe WR.
- At the end of the day, Ben was the 2nd highest rated QB behind Tom Brady. And Tom Brady played like he was on Madden 08. So in reality, (and I mean reality), Ben was the highest rated QB
- Can we beat the Ravens this year??
- Well we smashed them early in the year! A perfect game by BR and a shutout for the D. We narrowly lost to them at their house but by that time in the schedule the Steelers were on the downhill run rather than hitting all cylinders. Coaching and just a lack of talented depth. However, far better than the year before. The Ravens are and hopefully will stay, horrible.
So, where does that leave the Steelers for ‘08-09? There are a number of questions to answer, my initial ones are
- Not firing coaches? Our OL and special teams where pathetic this year. I’m going to trust Tomlin on this one and hope we get some better talent, because that probably was at least half the problem.
- Pressure D! Where is it? Traditionally the Steelers are run first, both on offense and defense. We were even struggling to contain RB’s in the later part of the year. That is scary, and it needs fixing NOW! I really like how the NYG’s are playing D and pressuring the QB. This may just get them an upset win over the Patriots! (yeah right :()
- Depth, depth, depth. We will be 3 years removed from our Superbowl victory and that means the good players then, are getting older. I’m a little concerned that we still seem to holding on to a core nucleus of players. That’s ok if they can perform (Take New England for example) but I haven’t seen it consistently the past 2 seasons, which may spell trouble for next season. We need some better picks in the draft and those draft choices need to be used and play a role more. No use drafting if you don’t get any value, they just tie up salary cap space.
Anyway, thats my hurried thoughts. I’m excited for tommorrow, I think it will be a great Superbowl to watch. Not having my team in it means I can’t lose
- If New England win, I will have witnessed an historic moment in sport
- If New York win, Plax gets a Superbowl ring and I can ROFL over the Patriots disappointing finish.
gommo July 23rd, 2007
Steelers are arriving today !!
Video available at http://kdka.com/steelers/local_story_204070442.html
gommo July 22nd, 2007
With the heartbreaking 20-17 loss for the knights last night I’ve come to realization that the Knights season is pretty much over.
The frustrating part is that we were 3 CLOSE games out from 3rd spot. Its a tribute to how close this competition is this year (Ignoring the 2 superior teams). Injuries have derailed this season though. Oh well, there’s always next year
The GOOD news is that the Steelers open up training camp tomorrow. Time to see if the 3rd head coach in the last 39 years for the Steelers can take this team back to the playoffs and the Superbowl!
Some questions I can’t wait to see answered
- How will Mike Tomlin fair this season as the Steelers new head coach? Will he bring back that fire on defense that we have been sorely missing?
- Will Alan Faneca shut the f*(*ck up and play to his usual high standard?
- Will our first 2 draft choices, both outside linebackers, help the pathetic pass rush we had last year?
- Will Ben Roethlisberger return to form this year? He’s off to a good start without being in a head on motorcycle accident and his appendix is gone now
- Can we beat the Ravens this year??
Aargghh! I can’t wait, hurry up Tuesday
gommo April 29th, 2007
Lawrence Timmons - Linebacker - Florida State
and at#46 - LaMarr Woodley - Defensive End/Linebacker - Michigan
and at #77 - Matt Spaeth - Tight End - Minnesota
gommo April 28th, 2007
The NFL Draft is finally here and I’ll be hanging out to see who the Steelers pick! We desperately need some pass rushing specialists (DE & OLB) and probably some OL depth (Center especially). After that I’m thinking possibly a RB in the later rounds with a DB somewhere in there too.
Also, the Steelers announced an alternative 75th Anniversary uniform that they will wear for the home opener this year against Buffalo. I’m not too hot on the yellow helmet but the jersey’s aren’t too bad. Definitely kept with the Steelers tradition AND they bought back the block numbers!
Oh, and Happy B’day to my mum today!
gommo February 28th, 2007
Aaron Smith signed a new 5 year extension with the Steelers. At 6′5″ 300lbs his normal position has been DE in the Steelers 3-4. With Mike Tomlin as the head coach now and the Steelers potentially switching to the 4-3, Smith is big enough to move inside to play DT. 
Although I love the 3-4 the Steelers definitely have failed to put pressure on opposing QBs lately. I don’t really care what defense Tomlin brings to the Steelers as long as its a return to the smash mouth-blitz the QB-take no prisoners style that made me fall in the love with the Steelers way back in’92.
