Media vignettes for your pleasure
Days in the Life
Just to give a reporter鈥檚 perspective today, the so-called Days in the Life, I鈥檓 going to roll out some media vignettes for your reading pleasure.
But please remember, these are only OTAs. The real hitting won鈥檛 start until late July.
I.
We in the media have about a 10 percent chance of scoring the one-on-one interview of our choice here at spring practices with the Steelers, so it鈥檚 wise to have about three players-of-choice in mind as the team walks off the field.
Since we鈥檙e not allowed in the locker room until the official minicamp, we have about 10 minutes to interview on the field, and if we鈥檙e lucky a one-on-one takes up about six of those minutes. If we鈥檙e even luckier, the words are not plucked out of the air by anyone else鈥檚 tape recorder.
That鈥檚 almost an impossibility as someone in the vast mob sees your choice and thinks, 鈥淵eah. That鈥檚 a good idea.鈥�
So as Heath Miller began drawing the flies following practice, I had two other guys in mind: LaMarr Woodley and Jonathan Dwyer.
While Woodley may not want to talk about those comments from an anonymous teammate that pretty much labeled him a shirker last season, he was looking fit and that鈥檚 a story in itself.
My second choice, Dwyer, may not want to talk about his poor conditioning last season, but he has been getting the first-team reps this spring, and that, too, is a story.
So, which one do I grab?
Well, radio man Joe Starkey solved my dilemma by taking Woodley off to the side, so I was left with Dwyer, who gave me honest answers to my difficult questions.
To my pleasant surprise, a mob had encircled Starkey and Woodley. They not only ruined Joe鈥檚 one-on-one, but provided me with a transcript that was posted in the media section of Steelers.com. These were the highlights from Woodley:
鈥� 鈥淭he anonymous person is right next to me, my locker. It鈥檚 my locker so there is no one there. I don鈥檛 know who said it.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淚t just comes with the territory. You deal with it and you continue to march on with your day.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淓verybody thought that last year I was out due to hamstring injuries but it wasn鈥檛 that. It was due to a high ankle sprain in the Cleveland Browns game early in the first quarter when somebody fell on my ankle.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淚鈥檓 good to go. Ask the anonymous person. They can answer it better than I can.鈥�
As for my opinion, Woodley looks fit. Or, I should say, he looks like he always has. But perhaps I鈥檓 the wrong person for this comment because I thought he was large and lumbering coming out of college, and he鈥檚 surprised me with his range ever since. I just haven鈥檛 seen this out-of-shape linebacker that so many have criticized the last few years. He鈥檚 the same guy to me.
But then again, that鈥檚 just me.
II.
Mike Tomlin spotted a couple of us reporters on the sideline and made his way over and with a big smile asked, 鈥淎re any of you under any undue pressure to come up with any real stories today?鈥�
Now, that was a paraphrase. The real words聽鈥� since forgotten聽鈥� were far better phrased, far more Tomlin-esque. The guy, in fact, should be writing this column.
Anyway, I smiled back and said that, no, there isn鈥檛 any undue pressure, but that people really are interested in the seemingly innocuous minutiae of football in shorts.
鈥淟ike Reggie Dunn having 4.2 speed,鈥� I said as Heath Miller walked past us in the background. 鈥淥r Heath Miller walking without a limp.鈥�
鈥淗ey, Heath,鈥� Tomlin called over. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e walking without a limp. You just made the 11 o鈥檆lock news!鈥�
Miller only said, 鈥淵eah, about a month ago.鈥�
III.
I鈥檝e had good days with Ryan Clark, and I鈥檝e had bad days with him.
Thursday was a great day with Clark, and it came as a bit a surprise because it started off with a complaint.
Clark approached me on the sideline, during practice, while I was talking to the PR staff about what had just been my fourth rules violation in four practices.
Not that anyone was upset with me. It鈥檚 more of a clarification process as the team bears down on media regulations during spring practices.
But I was worried about being on some sort of record pace that might end in a head-on collision, so when Clark approached I could just see a fifth consecutive violation on the following rule: no socializing with players or coaches during practice.
鈥淛im, you鈥檙e a guy I respect,鈥� said Clark, a guy who鈥檚 given me both barrels in the past when he hasn鈥檛 liked something I鈥檝e written.
We鈥檝e hashed things out, though, like reasonable men, so I appreciate his respect and in turn respect him.
鈥淪o I want to ask you a question,鈥� he continued. 鈥淛ust because I am proactive in pursuing a career in pro football punditry, does it mean I love being on this grass any less?鈥�
And then he raced back to the field to continue practice.
I wondered if this was some kind of Zen riddle, or if he had been hanging around with Troy Polamalu a bit too much, and then he turned back and hollered: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what you wrote about me, remember?鈥�
I guess I did. Maybe. It was a bit cloudy, though, so I looked it up.
With Ryan Clark entering the final year of his contract, and apparently preparing for his life鈥檚 work in football punditry, it appears that Troy Polamalu is the free safety of the future.
I had written that in the most recent issue of Steelers Digest. I looked there first because I know some of the players read that column. I mean, who doesn鈥檛 enjoy notes columns?
But Clark took exception to the fact I had implied that his impressive work with ESPN is a signal he鈥檚 ready to retire.
I countered that I鈥檝e covered the team long enough to believe the Steelers won鈥檛 offer a 34-year-old a new contract, and that taking another option was a better way for him to bow out rather than just being let go.
鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 want to take that option right now,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淚 want to keep playing. I love this game. I love this team. In fact, my agent is trying to get an extension for me right now.鈥�
And, really, the more I think about it the more I see Clark coming back. He鈥檚 been one of the top free safeties in the NFL the last couple of years, hasn鈥檛 shown any signs of slowing down, and the Steelers have a history of sticking with their free safety well into old age. (Just kidding, Ryan, but see Brent Alexander.)
And, really, the Steelers don鈥檛 have another free safety in the pipeline, unless Robert Golden surprises us this season.
I told Clark that I had come to this new conclusion the third time he stopped over 鈥� this time during a special-teams session 鈥� and he nodded without comment.
We went on and had a friendly conversation about life in the media, his appearance at the LSU pro day, and how well he thinks Eric Reid and Shamarko Thomas are going to do as NFL safeties.
All in all it made for a great day, and all because I had written something a player didn鈥檛 like.
And I wasn鈥檛 found in violation by the team, either. That seems to be a miracle these days.