Thoughts on several Steelers
From the notebook of a sportswriter who鈥檚 just going by what he鈥檚 seen and heard to tell you what I know about 鈥�
鈥� Ladarius Green.
There鈥檚 been so much back and forth written about him that no one, I鈥檓 sure, knows what to believe. But I will tell you all that I know.
I was talking to one of the players who knows him well. We were talking about Green鈥檚 bad ankle. 鈥淭here are other things,鈥� the player said. I did not write this. I thought he was talking about ankle complications. But the next day when the NFL鈥檚 media had this story about headaches and concussions dropped in its lap, I then knew what 鈥渙ther things鈥� meant.
The writers from the Post-Gazette followed up and received word from a source with the team that I believe, and so should you, that concussions are involved in some way. Whatever else has been said by Green or other parties who are trying to compete with the Post-Gazette are fine, but I pay them no mind. I鈥檓 going with what I know.
Also, the ankle has not been good. Green ran very poorly on it the last few days of spring. And a week and a half ago, he couldn鈥檛 jump with much explosiveness. Early last week, I watched him go through a dispirited running workout with an assistant trainer. It was dispirited both in running pace and in the fact that he hung his head for seemingly the entire time.
Now he says he鈥檚 getting better. Great. I hope he starts opening day and excels. But I have my doubts because I can鈥檛 forget what I鈥檝e seen and heard in this matter.
鈥� Le鈥橵eon Bell.
Every time this poor guy tries to clear something up he seems to make things worse. The other day he tried to apologize by video on social media. He deleted it soon thereafter, probably because he said he hasn鈥檛 smoked marijuana since December of 2014.
The mathematically inclined sportswriters put that together with what Bell had said previously about quitting weed and reported that, hey, he鈥檚 lying again.
Will this admission cost Bell another game or two?
Geez, let鈥檚 hope not, because all I care about is that in slipping up, while making this latest admission, he probably also told the truth that he hasn鈥檛 smoked in 20 months.
That鈥檚 what鈥檚 important. If he can鈥檛 wake up in time, or can鈥檛 hobble over on crutches to get his test in, those are entirely different problems.
No, I believe Bell has quit toking, and I believe him for the same reason I believed him in June when he denied he hadn鈥檛 smoked again or hadn鈥檛 missed a test. He may have lied about missing the test, but I鈥檓 going to stick with the important part, that he has quit smoking weed. I believed him then because I鈥檝e detected a change in him.
Yeah, I know, you鈥檙e thinking, 鈥淲hat do you know about it?鈥� But I sense a crispness (as opposed to a crispiness) in Bell that I hadn鈥檛 before, and I remember thinking how dopey he was when I interviewed him at his NFL Combine out of college.
No, this guy is sharp. Martavis Bryant? I don鈥檛 know if that guy can ever become sharp, but I didn鈥檛 detect any change in him, at least like I did in Bell.
By the way, if you saw Bell zip and rip his way through that video, you would agree. No one who鈥檚 smoked weed in the last 20 months could ever talk that fast.
鈥� DeAngelo Williams.
This guy is the classic out-of-towner looking for a fight with the media.
True, he鈥檚 laughing all the time, and can be cordial, but he does not like us. In that way, he鈥檚 similar to Ryan Clark when he came in from out of town and he鈥檚 like Mewelde Moore when he came in from out of town. Mike Mitchell struggled with the media the last two years, too. These are just the latest examples off the top of my head, but they were combative off the git-go and determined to show their teammates/friends that they don鈥檛 like the media and 鈥淚 got your back Deebo鈥� or whomever is in the middle of a controversy and therefore a media mob.
My guess is these guys were surrounded by jerky media in other towns, media who were determined to find a story if they had to make one up, media that would put words into their mouths.
For the most part, we鈥檙e not that smart here. Ryan Clark came around. And so did Moore. Both are bright and have a ton of insight to deliver. Clark has gone on to do well in national media. Moore is probably doing well in whatever he鈥檚 involved, because he really is a sharp guy, but he could鈥檝e done better here by developing his brand through the media.
Williams, geez, I don鈥檛 look forward to trying to deal with this guy the first three weeks of the season as he replaces Bell. He just doesn鈥檛 like us. Doesn鈥檛 trust us. Probably doesn鈥檛 need us, but that鈥檚 his call and is fine by me.
鈥� Stephon Tuitt.
In his rookie season, I heard that Mike Tomlin had told the minority owners in a pre-training camp meeting that Tuitt was going to be an absolute stud. And I wrote it.
The next day, Tomlin walked over to the sideline at training camp and ripped me a new one. The source was no one he would ever expect, and I never gave him up, but Tomlin was mad.
Of course, he caught me by surprise coming over with a big smile and a 鈥淗ey, Wex!鈥� But then he told me off.
I asked him why he cared so much. 鈥淏ecause now I have to be on Tuitt鈥檚 back for the next month!鈥�
And then I understood.
Well, however Tomlin has had to rectify the admission that he actually liked a rookie, it certainly has worked out. This guy is a monster. The tip of the iceberg was showing last Thursday in the second preseason game. In a short amount of time he led the first team in tackles and could鈥檝e had more with a few breaks.
We all know that Cam Heyward鈥檚 an outstanding player, but Tuitt looked like an absolute beast.
No one was around his locker after the game, and when I walked over he had the look of 鈥淲ell, it鈥檚 about time one of you guys got over here.鈥�
He knew he played great and was kind of impatient to talk about it. And that island accent of his mixes with his good manners to form a very unique, albeit shy, personality.
He鈥檚 quick to smile, but of course that alone won鈥檛 make him a star. His talent will. And he has both the talent and charisma to become a bona fide NFL star this season It鈥檚 a lethal mix. And I hope Tomlin doesn鈥檛 mind me saying so.