This is the time of year when we talk periodically about the squad make-up.  I want one last shot at the tea leaves.  The Steelers roster is now at 75, but by 4:00 Saturday afternoon, NFL teams need to be cut to 53.  After 12:00 noon on Sunday, teams may sign an eight-man practice squad (we get nine with Marvin Allen from Europe).  Here's my shot.

Quarterbacks:  Right off the bat we have fireworks.  The coaches cannot possibly think Dixon is ready as a backup or he would have seen action against Minnesota.  Batch cannot play for a while, which means Leftwich is our backup.  Dixon is too valuable to risk waivers/practice squad (the long touchdown run sealed that thought), so it makes sense for him to be on the 53-man team, but not the 45-man dressing team.  Since he is a quarterback, he can still dress every game and be used as an emergency player, so it makes sense to put him there.  The question is Batch.  Does he use up a spot on the 53 squad?  He could, and they might, but I won't.  Sorry Charlie.  He's a local guy who has served us well, but I say his days in a Steeler uniform might be over.  He can go on injured reserve.  After the year we'll see where we are with the whole quarterback scenario.

Running Backs: We can continue the Carey Davis-Gary Russell debate, but it really doesn't matter.  One will be active and the other inactive.  They have different body types, but their production levels and potential (or lack thereof) are the same.  I have Vincent and Lasko being cut.

Receivers:  Willie Reid played his way onto the team against Minnesota as the fifth receiver (or fourth if you put him before Sweed).  I have Dallas Baker (for his second year) and Micah Rucker both on the practice squad.  Eddie Drummond will be gone.  He hasn't shown enough.  In addition, Holmes is back in the punt-return picture and Mendenhall and Moore are new returners.  When the music stops, Drummond will not find a chair.

Tight Ends:  I am thinking we need either Dezmond Sherrod or Lee Vickers on the 53- squad but inactive.  Since I have at least seen Sherrod in practice, I'll have to go with him.  Vickers will be cut.

O-Line:  I have eight on the main roster, slotting Darnell Stapleton and Tony Hills on the 53 inactive list.  It is too risky to cut a fourth-round tackle from a big program and think we can pick him back up for practice.  The position means too much to us given our free-agent tackles.  We need to protect him, teach him and hope be blossoms.  I do have Legursky on the practice squad, since I don't think he'll draw suitors.  He could also blossom.  I've cut Lentz and Parquet.

D-Line:  I'm giving Nick Eason the axe.  We brought in Orpheus Roye for a reason.  He's the lesser of the two evils.  I have Roye on the 53 inactive list.  Scott Paxson intrigues me so I'm actually keeping him on the main roster.  He's a Brett-Keisel-type on special teams - a big man who disrupts blockers.  He also has what Tomlin likes, "position flexibility."  He can play all three spots on the D-Line.  I used one of my 8 chits to put McBean on the inactive list.  He reminds me of Willie Reid, the coaches can't pull the trigger and let go of his potential.  We'll see about that.  I've cut Reffett.

Linebackers:  I have seven on the main roster, with Arnold Harrison and Keyaron Fox serving as backups who can be helpful on special teams.  I put Bruce Davis on the inactive list.  We can't hide a third-round pick to make the practice squad.  We can hide Humpal, a late round guy, since no one has seen him play, including us.  I stuck Bailey on the practice squad as well.  I cut Frazier and Woods.

Cornerbacks:  I am keeping Gay along with Deshea, B-Mac and Ike.  I've got to let Madison go.  No room on the bus.  I'll use a couple spots on the practice squad for Mason and Lewis.  Our coaches like those guys.  They won't get stolen.

Safeties:  Same as corners, I am keeping four.  Against my every fiber, I have Tyrone, cough, Carter, cough, active, cough.  Our safety situation is just too fragile.  Troy has not played more than he's played in the last 12 months, Clark has had major health issues and Anthony Smith has had major head issues.  Carter wins a bus token by default.  I put Mundy on the practice squad.  It's interesting how he and Humpal, late-round picks with stingers, hammies, ankles, you name it, will conveniently fit on the practice squad without any other team knowing any better than to claim them.

Special Teams:  In addition to Skippy and Warren, I chose Ernster over Berger.  I am hoping with some more practice, Ernster might be able to add a few yards to his kickoffs and help us there as well.

Here's the summary:

Inactive (8):  Dixon, Russell Davis, Sherrod, Stapleton, Hills, Steely McBean, Roye, and Bruce Davis

Practice (9):  Rucker, Baker, Marvin Allen (must), Legursky, Bailey, Humpal, Mason, Lewis and Mundy

Cut (12):  Vincent, Latsko, Drummond, Vickers, Lentz, Parquet, Reffett, Eason, Frazier, Woods, Madison and Berger

Injured Reserve (2):  Batch and Sepulveda

Your take please?

I fully understand the importance of longsnapping.  One bad one causes disaster.  But is the skill so hard to learn that one guy needs to do it exclusively?  Is the skill so difficult that a backup offensive lineman, whose only job in this world is to be an offensive lineman, couldn't practice and be as good as Warren?  If you are going to use a precious roster spot on a unique skill, wouldn't it be better to find some European soccer guy to kick it out of the end zone every time?  Does every team have a longsnapper that does nothing else on this planet?  At the risk of exposing ignorance, I would think that other people could learn the skill and free up a roster spot, similar to the guy who holds for field goals but does something else primarily.  Just a goffy thought for the day.

This piece is about a great All American Player who, in typical Steeler fashion back in the old days, suffered a career-ending injury before he finished his sixth game.  BTSC interviewed Perry's widow, Maxine and his son, Lowell Perry Jr.  Both wife and son expressed how grateful they were to the Rooney family.  Perry was a young man in a strange town laying in a hospital for 13 weeks, his dreams of playing football shattered.  Art Rooney made sure he wasn't a stranger for long.

Lowell Perry was a college phenom.  At the University of Michigan he played receiver and safety.  He was an All-American who never left the field.  The Steelers selected him in the eighth round of the 1953 NFL draft, a very high draft choice considering Perry was committed to the Air Force ROTC for three years before he would see a Steelers uniform.

The Steelers patience was finally rewarded in 1956.  Lowell Perry was everything they hoped for and more.  In just five-plus games he scored two touchdowns, including an electric 75-yard touchdown reception.  He averaged an incredible 24 yards-per-reception and also racked up huge chunks of yardage returning punts and kickoffs.  He even carried the ball twice for 37 yards.  Unfortunately, one of those carries ended his playing career.

"It was a naked reverse against the Giants in the sixth game," lamented his son, Lowell Perry, Jr.  "He was close to the sidelines when Rosey Grier, Dick Nolan and another guy all pounced on him.  He landed on one of those steel yard markers."

Maxine Perry, Lowell's wife whom he met at a college party after a love-at-first-sight introduction, was in attendance that November day at Forbes Field.  She was ushered into the training room where she knew instantly that her husband's life was about to change dramatically.  It happened that quickly.  Perry fractured his hip and pelvis and never played again.  Those were the neanderthal days of medicine when surgeries and reparations were not nearly as sophisticated.  Perry was a young man in a strange town lying in a hospital room for 13 long weeks, his NFL dreams shattered along with a hip and pelvis.

"It was frightening and heartbreaking," recalled Mrs. Perry.  "Thank God for Mr. Rooney.  He visited Lowell daily and assured him he would always have a job in the Steelers' organization.  Mrs. Rooney would visit also.  She baked pies and cakes.  It was unbelievable.  Art Rooney will be with me forever.  I can't even think about that man without getting emotional."

Art Rooney's kindness and strength did not surprise Maxine Perry.  She had witnessed his character before her husband's first season even began.  The Steelers went to Jacksonville to play a preseason game.  There was a parade for the players, the White players that is.  The Black players were standing at the curb.

"The White players didn't know what was happening," remembered Mrs. Perry.  "They wanted my husband to join the parade, but the Black players weren't allowed.  They were also registered at a different hotel.  Mr. Rooney was incensed.  He flew down the next day and told the team that never again would the Pittsburgh Steelers be subject to discrimination."

The very next year Pittsburgh had a scrimmage scheduled in Atlanta.  When Rooney learned that Black players were in a different hotel, he cancelled the scrimmage.

True to his word, Rooney did offer more than just emotional support.  When Perry was finally released from the hospital Rooney offered him a job.  In 1957 Lowell W. Perry became the first African-American coach in modern NFL history.  He coached the receivers.  The next year Perry worked in the Steelers' scouting department.  While employed by the Steelers, Perry went to law school at Duquesne University.  He had great vision for a future outside of football.  In 1966 Perry claimed another first when CBS hired him as a color analyst.  He became the first African-American to broadcast an NFL game to a national audience.

Once a Steeler always a Steeler, even for less than six games.  Perry went back to Pittsburgh for various alumni functions and took his son, Perry Jr., with him.  On one of those trips Art Rooney invited Perry Jr. to work the 1973 training camp.

"That's the kind of guy he was," said Perry Jr.  "He put me up in the dorm and let me eat with the players in the cafeteria.  His sons, Dan and Artie, were just as nice.  The warmth of the Rooney family is something I will never forget."

Perry Jr. had a summer vacation that would make any Steeler fan green with envy.  He hung out with Mel Blount and Glen Edwards, played basketball with the guys and warmed up Terry Bradshaw on the sidelines.  He was invited to team meetings and soaked it all in.  Perry Jr. was entering his senior year in high school.  He starred as a quarterback in football and also excelled in basketball and track.

"I remember Mr. Rooney introducing me to Joe Greene.  He was bigger than life.  When we shook hands his fingers ran halfway up my forearm.  I decided right then and there I was going to play basketball in college," quipped Perry Jr.

Both Lowell Perrys went on to successful careers as public servants.  Junior graduated from Yale, worked in the front office of the Seattle Seahawks for a decade and is now the chief executive officer of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee.  Senior became the first African-American, another first, to run a major U.S. manufacturing facility when he worked for Chrysler in the 1970s.  Senior chaired the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission under President Gerald Ford and was director of the Michigan Department of Labor.  He was also a founding member of NFL Charities. 

Maxine and Lowell had two more children who made their parents equally proud.  Son Scott is currently the vice president of basketball operations for the Detroit Pistons and daughter Merrideth is an account manager for CennectEdu, an online college planning service to help high school students.

Lowell Perry Sr. (center) with Sons Scott (left) and Lowell Jr. (right)

"There's no doubt in my mind that Art Rooney had a profound affect on my father's life far beyond football," said Perry Jr.  "Mr Rooney died in the house he lived most of his life in.  The neighborhood completely changed color through the years, but Art Rooney never noticed." 

His mother agrees.  "Art Rooney did things for the neighbors that they never knew, like buy food and supplies and anything else that was needed.  My husband was also a kind and caring individual whose outlook on life was definitely shaped by the Rooney family.  And I can see it now in all three of our children."

Lowell Perry lost his bout with cancer in 2001, but not before leaving this world in better shape than he found it.  The credo he gave his children is one we should all live by:  "You make a living by what you earn, but you make a life by what you give."  Thank you Lowell Perry.

Without breaking down film, of which I am incapable anyhow, here is some info to chew on after the Steelers third preseason game.

Quarterbacks:  Ben had a very nondescript game.  It was disappointing to see him throw three passes behind receivers.  On a good note, he threw three emergency checkdowns and two throw-aways.  That bodes well in the future.  Leftwich looks like a gamer.  He has that Juan Marichal windup and throws lasers.  If Kenny Anderson can somehow adjust that, and that is a big if, Leftwich can be a legitimate back-up.  The jury is still out.  I would have liked to see Dixon, but the coaches are obviously bent on getting Leftwich to be our reliever.  On the flip side, it is clear why the Packers did everything they can to prevent Favre from being a Viking.  That team would be a legitimate Super Bowl contender with Favre, and may be anyhow.

Receivers:  Willie Ried made the team tonight.  He's our fifth receiver, maybe fourth.  Rucker is gone and Dallas Baker will be a practice squad guy again this year.  I think Drummond is gone also. Just my opinion.

O-Line:  We had some problems with Ben getting sacked twice, but consider this team has an all-star defensive line.  Those Williams guys and Allen are as good as any threesome in the league.  With that in mind, I don't think the O-Line played that bad.  Willie Colon may not have the arms to be the tackle we want, but that is still a work in progress.  Kemo looks good to me considering he had one of those Williams Brothers.

Running Backs:  Willie looks healthy and that in itself is good to see.  He looks like he is being paced and that is fine with me.  Get in, get hit a little and get out.  He doesn't have the body to do anything better than that right now.  Rashard looked great, except for the two fumbles.  Again, if that can be coached and corrected, he is a stud.  He changes directions beautifully.  I saw that in training camp and made a comment to wit a while back.  I liked what I saw from him despite the fumbles.  You can clearly see that his addition will keep FWP fresher all season, by game, by season and by career.

Tight End:  Heath saw a few balls tonight and of course caught them.  No problems there.

D-Line:  Really played great tonight.  Peterson was shut down all night and the D-Line gets the lion's share of the credit.  Big Snack looked very good.  I am his biggest critic and I beg him to take care of his body better, but he was huge (pun intended).  Aaron Smith was also a pleasure to watch.

Linebackers:  Looked really quick again.  I hope Foote's injury is minor of course.  We had a few sacks and then came close other times, forcing the offense to hurry.  Timmons is on the field alot and deserves to be.  Woodley bullrushed a guy into embarrassment.  We showed alot more movement in this game as compared to a straight defense in the first two games.  Some of our alignments early in the game looked sweet.  Later with the non-startes we went vanilla, but so what?

Defensive Backs:  Played a bit tighter, which was a good thing.  Ike has practiced on not dropping the ball and it paid off with an INT.  Tyrone Carter played very well and looks like a man trying to make the team.  He is still slow, but at least is a smarter slow.  The whole team did a mich better job of tackling.  It is apparent that Tomlin got to them.  The DBs are still keeping everything in front of them but the gains were not as big and not as deadly.  DeShea got burnt once, but that was about it.  I am still waiting (aren't we all) for McFadden to step up and make some plays.

Special teams:  Coverage looked enthusiastic.  Different guys took turns making plays, as it should be.  Fox made a great play, Scott Paxson busted a wedge that will be played over and over again in film session.  Other than that McKelvin blip a week ago we have looked good in the coverage area all three games.  Skippy nailed four field goals and especially impressive was how they got on the field at the end ready to win.  That was a credit to Ligashesky.  Of course, that's his job, but he seems to be doing it well thus far.

Overall:  Now is not the time to peak.  Now is the time to show promise in every area and hope that your mistakes are correctable.  It's a long journey from here.  I think we are on a good pace overall.  We're not overworking anyone, taking the whole preseason and OTAs into consideration. It looks like if there is anything Tomlin has learned from year one to year two it is overall pace.  I wonder about the Humpal and Mundy injuries.  Are the Steelers wanting them out of action so they can be put on the practice squad without being picked up by anyone else?  Just a crazy thought.

Anyone else?

Here is a six-pack of thoughts and observations to chew on while we sit in the middle of the preseason...

1)  Tomlin needs to tighten the dial a bit on defense.  His philosophy seems to be avoid the big play at all costs.  Keep the play in front of you and make the tackle.  This is evident by his benching of players when they do give up the big play plus the Steelers alarmingly low number of interceptions (11) last year and thus far in preseason.  Teams caught on to Tomlin's tendencies by mid-season last year and seemed to chip us down the field at will.  Same thing with the two preseason games thus far.  Chip, chip, chip.  There is a fine line.  Play too tight and get burnt, play too loose and get bled.  Tomlin needs to tighten up a bit and pay a little more home run risk for the gain of being able to stop people before they make yardage all the time.

2) Timmons will be a starter by September.  He needs to be on the field as much as possible.  Sub packages are great, but I want him there on first down.  I'd trade his play on special teams for his play on first downs.

3)  Santonio will be among the top five fantasy receivers this year.  He's smarter, still on the upside and playing with a quarterback who is on the upside.  Plus defenses must stay honest with him since Hines and Heath and Nate and maybe Sweed will make them be honest.

4)  Ben will not be sacked more than 32 times, a reduction of one-third from previous years.  He'll throw a few more away and check down a few more on blitzes.  Plus, the O-line will play better this year (they can't get much worse).  Kemo will have a better 2008 than Faneca had in 2007.  Colon will be improved and the center position will be improved.

5) Special teams coverage will be much improved (again, can't get much worse).  The McKelvin thing can't trump the excellent coverage we've been getting.  Most of the people on the McKelvin play won't be on the team it happened so late.

6)  The D-Line will not be as good as people hope.  Casey Hampton will learn the hard way that a 31-year old body at 350 pounds cannot turn it on and off as he thinks.  The backers will have to make up for that.  I'm afraid there will be times when I actually want Hoke in the game.

With the current state of Steelers' ownership in negotiations, the unknown of the furure is unsettling to all Steelers' fans.  We may well have reached the point where billionaires and not family-style operators are needed to run NFL franchises.  But what is not unknown is the Rooney family and the contributions it has made to the Steelers, the City of Pittsburgh and the entire NFL.  I thought we could pull together a little history and give this familty a salute they truly deserve.  We may not know the future, but we certainly can appreciate the journey to where we are today.

     When a professional sports franchise succeeds in any way, fans of that team stick out their chest and boast as if they had anything to do with it.  When losing, or any kind of shame befalls a sports team, the fans also absorb the embarrassment.  Ownership goes both ways.  With the Pittsburgh Steelers, sources of pride include the Chuck Noll era with four Super Bowl titles and the Bill Cowher era of consistency and a trophy of their own.

     The Rooney name is clearly another feather in the franchise cap.  No matter how much a rival dislikes us, they cannot express anything but respect when it comes to any discussion about the Rooney family.  That respect is unconditionally universal and no one enjoys it more than the fans of Pittsburgh.

     Art Rooney was a sports entrepreneur.  He made his livelihood in horse racing, boxing and amateur baseball.  When the NFL was looking for new markets in 1933, Rooney was known and accepted.  He paid $2,500 for a franchise in Pittsburgh.  The Great Depression and war years were not kind to the pocketbook.  Despite losing money for the first 13 years of the teams existence, Rooney's resourcefulness found ways to keep the franchise afloat.  His creative thinking in combining his team with the Philadelphia Eagles and then Chicago Cardinals during World War II not only saved the Steelers, but perhaps the NFL itself.  Other teams, like the Cleveland Rams, took the easy way out and simply folded.

     No one was more colorblind than Art Rooney.  His first team in 1933 featured one of only two African-Americans in the league (Ray Kemp).  In 1956 the team had an explosive receiver named Lowell Perry.  After six games of speed, promise and a couple electrifying touchdowns, Perry blew out a knee.  It was typical of the team's fortunes back then.  Rooney turned a young man's adversity into asset.  He immediately added Perry to the coaching staff, the first African-American coach in NFL history.  A decade later Rooney convinced a sportswriter named Bill Nunn to join the executive staff.  Nunn was the first man of color to ever work in an NFL front office.

     As a humanitarian, Art Rooney had no equal.  After the hazards of Viet Nam tore up Rocky Bleier's foot and leg, Rooney refused to release him.  Long after others had gracefully given up on Bleier, Rooney kept him on the payroll for as long as he wanted to attempt a comeback.  Giving a break to a Viet Nam vet did not put Rooney in exclusive company.  Common sense and public relations value would lead most owners in the same direction.  What made Rooney's generosity extraordinary was that it extended years beyond any reasonable time frame.  It was Rooney being Rooney.  Bleier finally came back after five long years of rehabilitation.  He was a huge factor in all four Super Bowl seasons of the 1970s.  Ask Rocky Bleier what he thinks of Art Rooney.

     When a rookie named Gabe Rivera became paralyzed in an automobile accident in 1983, Art Rooney was his instant source of strength and compassion.  Rivera was a frightened young man laying in a hospital a long way from his Texas home.  Rooney made certain, above and beyond, that every emotional and financial need was met to their fullest extent.

     Rooney's human relations persona extended deep into the community he loved.  Fans and well wishers came off the streets into the old Roosevelt Hotel to visit Mr. Rooney in the Steelers' offices.  It drove the secretaries crazy.  Rooney didn't mind.  He thought everyone was important and treated them such.  When he finally accepted his first championship trophy at the end of the 1974 season, his humility on national television made every viewer, fan and foe, want to hug the man.

     Art Rooney, like the rest of us, was not without weakness.  Being a warm-hearted and trusting human being is not a good quality when hiring coaches.  Up until he turned the reigns over to his son, Rooney hired three decent coaches and 10 bad ones.  One of the bad ones he hired three different times.  Moreover, he gave these coaches carte blanch to do whatever they wanted.  They could drill the team into the ground, trade away all their draft picks, cut Johnny Unitas and even not show up for games.  Rooney's tolerance level was frustratingly high.

     Art Rooney's weakness was his son Dan's strength.  By the late 1960s, Dan was fervent about going through national searches when looking for a coach.  The results were Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher (and recently Mike Tomlin).

     Rooney's strengths and contributions go far beyond being two-for-two in hiring Hall of Fame coaches (assuming Cowher gets in).  When the league was looking for a small group of owners to negotiate with the players in 1982 and 1987, Rooney was among them.  He understood that it wasn't owners versus players.  It was about the game and what was best for it.  Rooney was disarming to both sides and got each to understand the other.

     When the NFL reached crossroads in 1993 and embarked on the most critical labor-management negotiations in its history, Dan Rooney was called upon to chair the process.  Rooney and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue pledges to keep the game fair and give the players what they deserved.  The resulting Collective Bargaining Agreement was a landmark deal that included free agency for the players and revenue sharing among the teams.  Since that agreement, the foundation of which still exists today, the NFL has enjoyed soaring prosperity to the envy of every other sport on every other level.

     Rooney also chaired the NFL Diversity Committee.  Given his father's propensity to establish watershed milestones for minorities, this committee was near and dear to his heart.  Giving minorities a chance was a battle cry for years, but Rooney thought there was too much lip service and not enough action.  His committee created what would be called "The Rooney Rule."  This rule mandated that when an NFL team was hiring a head coach, a minority candidate must be interviewed.  Teams have the ultimate freedom to hire whoever they want, of course, but at the very least this rule brings to public light those individuals of color who are the most respected and most ready for the challenge.

     To be sure, fans of all NFL teams have sources of pride on which to hang their hats.  There are championships to be cherished, great players to be cheered and coaches to be admired.  It is not often that franchise ownership is one of those sources.  In Pittsburgh, the word Rooney is synonymous with civic pride.  And to Steelers' fans, the name itself is a badge of honor.

My daughter and i went to Latrobe today to soak in the sun and camp activities.  St. Vincent is such an ideal place for an NFL training camp.  Lots of land, picturesque, beautiful dorms and cafeterias for the players and an area just for kids to engage in fun and interactivities.  Here are some notes and sights from Camp Tomlin Day Four.

St. Vincent is Really the Perfect Setting for a Camp

Ben was perfect today also.  Every pass in drills or scimmage was laser sharp, quick enough yet soft to the catch.  He threw long, he threw outs, he threw long outs and laid it in there to perfection.

All the receivers looked good except Reid.  He dropped at least three punts or passes.  I can't picture this guy making the team again.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that Nate looked terrific again. Caught everything like a man on a mission.  Sweed looks like a winner also.  This might be the best foursome of wide receivers since the mid-70s when we had Swann, Stallworth, Shanklin and Frank Lewis.  I honestly can't remember being this good this deep since then.

Starks and Hartwig played exclusively with the second team, giving way to Mahan and Colon.  I really hope they give guys chance.  With Kemo out, this would be the perfect time to try Colon at left guard and Starks at right tackle, but all they did was move Essex into left guard.

That Grant Mason guy looks like he really wants to make the team.  He was all over the place.  He's got some giddyup.  He flew out of nowhere to intercept a long pass (Batch) and seemed to have a good presence today.

Mendenhall is getting alot of time with the first bunch.  That guy changes directions really quick for a fairly big back.  He really is impressive in person and he doesn't seem the least bit a rookie.  Sweed sometimes does look like a rookie.  Mendenhall  got as much attention today as Parker, at least as many touches.

Our new punter Paul Ernster, or Edinger as Tomlin calls him, looked good today.  He got the loudest cheers for some boomers that were unreturnable.  I'm sure we are going to look at others, but if you never heard or read anything about him and showed up at practice today, you'd be happy with what you saw.  Of course, a broken clock works twice a day.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Timmons and Woodley are ready to bust.  Those guys look so much better in year two.  They just want to hit people.  They are moving around before each snap, something they couldn't be smart enough to do last season.  And if you are an offense, you better account for them.

The Red Hats Were Quick Today, Especially Timmons and Woodley

Kevin Greene was helping us coach today.  The guy looks like could still play.  He has a hundred something sacks in his career.  He was vocal with the linebackers.  I think he is having an impact on our young backers.  He put some juice and know-how into them.

Hines looks like his belly if flatter (not that he ever had a belly) and his upper body is bigger than past seasons.  He also looks quick.  Took alot of extra sprints after practice when the others had left the field, then he caught balls out of the machine.  I noticed that Santonio, Sweed and Nate hung around after practice also, almost as if they felt obliged to not leave before the old vet.  After Hines took catches from the ball machine, the others did the same.  I think Hines is sending some messages to those guys.  That whole scenario was great to see.

Casey Hampton is still in the doghouse.  He was more than a hundred yards from any action, hanging out with some conditioning guy.  All he did was walk around a field all afternoon, which is better than eating cheeseburgers I guess.  Maybe he did more vigorous stuff in the morning.  He looks bad.  The sad thing was, from what I saw, guys like Chris Hoke expended alot more calories during practice than the Big Snack.

The Smith Brothers, Aaron and Marvel look fully healed and in great shape.  Those guys were impressive today.  They both had a quick burst about them.

Lots of Interactive Stuff For the Kids

And to Top it Off, Ben Signed My Daughter's Football

     With all the talk of ownership lately, I thought I would share another historical piece regarding ownership of the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

     Say what?  How is it possible that the Pittsburgh Steelers played the 1940 season, played the 1941 season, yet somehow in between did not exist?  In a series of events that would confuse Abbott and Costello, this scenario actually took place.  Here's how.

     Art Rooney was despondent after the 1940 season, having yet to taste a winning campaign since founding the team in 1933.  He tried everything.  In 1938 he paid the astronomical salary of $15,800 to Byron Whizzer White, who played just one season before heading off to Oxford to become a Rhodes Scholar.  In 1940 Rooney changed the team name from Pirates to Steelers to better reflect the city's image, but still no luck.  After eight seasons the Steelers were 24-62-5.

     Across the commonwealth, the Philadelphia Eagles, who also came into being in 1933, actually compiled a worse record than the Steelers, 19-65-3.  Eagles' owner Bert Bell and Art Rooney had plenty in common and became very good friends commiserating their war wounds.

     Also in late 1940 a preppie playboy from New York named Lex Thompson, and I emphasize "boy" since the lad was just 26 years old, decided he wanted to own a team in the National Football League.  Thompson was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.  His father became a multi-millionaire in the steel industry (ironically) and was one of the few who had boatloads of money during the Great Depression.

     Thompson graduated from Yale in 1936 and started a lucrative business selling eye-care products.  By 1940 he had money on top of money and wanted a nice big toy.  He offered $160,000, precisely 64 times the amount Art Rooney paid for the Steelers eight years earlier, for an NFL franchise.  Rooney was a superb sports entrepreneur who always knew how to make a buck.  He wasn't pleased that the Steelers were losing money every year.  With all those Thompson dollars floating in the marketplace, Rooney came up with a plan.

     At the December, 1940 NFL meetings, the league officially approved the sale of the Pittsburgh Steelers to Alexis Thompson.  Rooney took the cash and then bought half of the Philadelphia Eagles from his buddy, Bert Bell, who needed a little cash himself.  Thompson immediately hired his own coach, Greasy Neale, and changed the team name to Pittsburgh Ironmen.

     Unbeknownst to the league and everyone else, Lex Thompson had no intention of keeping the team in Pittsburgh after the 1941 season, and Art Rooney had no intention of staying out of Pittsburgh very long.  The "plan" was that Thompson would move his team to Boston, while Rooney and Bell would change the Philadelphia Eagles into the Pennsylvania Keystoners and play half their games in Philly and half in Pittsburgh.

     When George Preston Marshall, owner of the Washington Redskins, caught wind of this he was livid.  He wasn't so concerned about Boston since four seasons earlier he himself moved the Boston Redskins to Washington, D.C. due to putrid fan support (put that in your pipe and smoke it, Patriots' fans).  What Marshall could not tolerate was the entire state of Pennsylvania claiming a single franchise.

     Marshall was the Al Davis of his time and had a great deal of influence over his peers. It was often easier to let Marshall have his way than to endure all his maverick tirades.  Since there were only 10 teams in the league at the time, Marshall needed to get only a handful of owners to stop the grand plan, which he did.

     So now what?  Rooney was out of the Pittsburgh football business and Lex Thompson wanted no part of being in it. Rooney went back to the drawing board and came up with Plan B.  Rooney and Bell offered Thompson the City of Philadelphia for the City of Pittsburgh.  They didn't trade franchises since Thompson wanted his coach and players.  They actually traded cities.

     Thompson, Greasy Neale and the Ironmen relocated to Philadelphia while Bert Bell and the Eagle players passed them on the road heading west.  In April, 1941 the Pittsburgh Steelers were re-born.  Thompson was pleased with the proceedings since Philadelphia was a short commute from his New York City home.  Rooney was delighted to get his own city back and with a stack of Thompson's money.  How's that for being resourceful? 

     For his troubles and relocation, Rooney allowed Bert Bell to also coach the team in 1941.  After another horrible start, Bert Bell the co-owner fired Bert Bell the coach after just two games.  Bell would remain partner with Rooney until 1946 when he became commissioner of the NFL.  Having obviously to sell out, he sold eight percent of his 50 back to Rooney and the other 42% to Barney McGinley to avoid conflict of interest.  Barney McGinley was a dear friend of the Rooney family and his son, Jack, married the sister of Art Sr., Anne Marie.

     McGinley divided his 42% among his four children.  When two of them died, the estates sold their shares back to the Rooney family, which is where we are today.  Jack McGinley, the third child, since divided further his 10% among his children while his sister Rita still wants to hold onto her 10%

     NFL records show that Arthur J. Rooney owned the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1941, just as he owned the team in 1940.  It is hard to believe now that one of the most stable franchises in NFL history was so unstable in between those two seasons that the Pittsburgh Steelers actually didn't exist at all.

Mike Humpal and Ryan Mundy, both sixth-round draft picks, were added to the fold leaving only the top two guns, Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed left unsigned.  The signing were almost identical.  Humpal gets a $71,600 bonus and mundy gets $67,600.  Both are signed for three years and will make $295,000 this season, $385,000 in 2009 and $470,000 in 2010.

Humpal played at Iowa and was an effective linebacker in his last two seasons, including six interceptions.  Mundy is a local high school product and played at West Virginia after transferring from Michigan.  He is a safety who had three picks and 62 tackles last season.  Both figure to really help us on special teams if they can make the 45-man squad.

By now most or all of you have read about Stanley Druckenmiller, a 55-year old hedge fund manager, who is strongly rumored to soon own at least a small piece of the Pittsburgh Steelers, if not a whole lot more.  Id like to summarize what has been floating around the last few days, in print and in talk, about Druckenmiller and his potential involvement with the Steelers.

Druckenmiller was a college whiz kid at small and prestigious Bowdoin College in Maine after moving several times as a child.  Shortly into his doctorate aspirations at the University of Michigan, Druckenmiller left that behind to make some money, some real serious money.  He moved to Pittsburgh to work for PNC and then started a company called Duquesne Capital Management at the tender age of 28, which still has an office in Upper St. Clair. Along the way he teamed with George Soros, a widely-known international investment guru and the two of them struck gold together.  In just one day in 1992, betting that the British pound would drop, Druckenmiller and Soros made a billion dollars.

The Druckenmiller Science Center at Bowdoin College

Druckenmiller now lives in New York and spends a great deal of time as CEO of Harlem Children's Zone, which helps thousands of poor families in an area that needs it most.  But his heart never left Pittsburgh.  Make no mistake, Druckenmiller is a Pittsburgh guy.  Having moved around a lot as a kid he never established any roots or any great rooting interest for a particular football team.  Pittsburgh has changed all that.  Druckenmiller is a season-ticket holder and flies into Pittsburgh for all the home games.  He still golfs regularly at Oakmont.  This billionaire worth 3.5 billion, ranked 91 among Forbes Top 400 Americans, paints his face black and gold, wears a Troy Polamalu jersey and tailgates in the parking lot.  How do you top that passion?

The Harlem Children's Zone is one of many charitable causes
Druckenmiller is involved in

Since his move to Pittsburgh, Druckenmiller has had a dream about owning the Steelers, at least in part, but has also been loyal to the franchise enough to know that the Rooneys are the Steelers and his respect has caused him to never cross that line.  It was the Rooneys who approached Druckenmiller, not the other way around, regarding the recent discussions about him becoming part of ownership.

 
Luxurious yet tasteful. And more importantly, in Pittsburgh, where
a potential owner of the Steelers should be.

You probably have heard that a driving force in all this is that three of the Rooney brothers, Tim, Pat and John, are owners of racetracks in New York, Florida and Maryland that now include casino gambling.  This is in direct violation with NFL policy and that is the reason for an alteration of Steelers ownership.  Each of the five Rooney brothers (Dan and Art Jr. being the other two) own 16 percent of the Steelers (The McGinley family, having married into the Rooneys two generations ago, owns the other 20 percent).  Figuring the Steelers are worth about $930 million, each brother owns about $150 million of the club.

True, the gambling issue is real and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is even involved now in trying to broker all of this.  Dan Rooney has publicly talked about the gambling issue and NFL compliance.  Casino-type gambling is unacceptable to the league (though dog and horse racing seems to be acceptable).  There are also other NFL matters to be considered.  The first is that the league wants at least a 30 percent majority owner.  The Rooney brothers each own only 16 percent, but have been grandfathered in to this point.  The second is that no franchise can go into debt more than $150 million.  Dan has that hanging over his head also.

However, restructured ownership would still be an issue very soon even without the gambling factor.  Dan and his son Art II are the operators of the team, but as long as this continues that means that the other four brothers have no impact on the team and also cannot reach any of their $150 million share of the franchise.  This is OK for the moment, but the Rooney brothers are getting up in age and this would be impossible to continue into the next generation.  You can't blame the four brothers for wanting to liquidate.  You also can't blame them for the timing.  Word on the streets is that if Obama gets elected in November the Capital Gains Tax is going to skyrocket.  The Rooney brothers want to have the next generation established before the election.

Dan cannot buy out his brothers since he doesn't have a spare $780 million laying around.  Dan is rich in the sense that he owns $150 million of an NFL franchise, but he is not cash-rich other than what he pays himself from the team.  Outside money needs to be infused.  There's really no other way to appease the four brothers of Dan.

Enter Stanley Druckenmiller.  Pittsburgh Steelers fans are very lucky to have among them a fan genius who attends all the home games.  By the way, Druckenmiller doesn't sit up in a cushy loge box.  He is among the crowd and the elements and high fives anyone around him when the Steelers make a good play.

Drukenmiller, pictured on the far left, has returned to Pennsylvania from New York, where his legendary stature as a Titan of Wall Street forced him to participate in the high-profile social life of New York City. Something tells me he's more comfortable around close friends in more private settings, like say, a Steelers game.

There are basically two ways in which Druckenmiller can become part owner of the Steelers.  The first way would sit much more comfortably with most of us Steelers fans, and that is, Druckenmiller (or someone else) would buy out the three brothers owning race tracks and own 48 percent of the team.  Dan and son Art II would find a way to buy out Brother Art and also the McGinley family and own the remaining 52 percent (or perhaps create a "Rooney Group" to accomplish the same thing).  This way Dan would pass the team on to his son and the foreseeable future would have a Rooney owning (most of) and running the team.  Druckenmiller would simply be a major investor.

The second scenario is more drastic and could occur if Dan cannot muster the finances to appease his brothers.  In this case Druckenmiller could buy more than 48 percent, making him the head honcho.  He has said that he really wants the Rooneys to continue to run the Steelers, but if he owns more than 50 percent it would be awfully awkward for Dan Rooney to essentially have a boss.  Steelers fans can hardly comprehend this scenario.

We Steelers fans have an unconditional loyalty and commitment to the Rooney family.  It just seems like the stars would be out of line with the universe if somehow anyone other than a Rooney was behind the curtain pulling all the levers, or at least approving what is being pulled.  But keep in mind several thoughts to help you sleep.

First, this change, at least to some degree, is inevitable.  Any Rooney not named Dan is not going to allow all his money to be tied up with an expensive toy from which his children gain no benefit.

Second, if anyone does need to come in, who better than a multi-billionaire who paints his face black and gold and is a current season ticket holder.  To boot, the guy is just 55 years old and in the prime of his mental capacities.  We could do a whole lot worse than Stanley Druckenmiller and really, not a whole lot better.

Third, while we love even the name Rooney, let's not forget that while Art Sr. was as lovable and loyal as could possibly be, the Steelers really weren't a successful operation until Dan took over in the late 1960s. Art seemed more interested in going to the races, schmoozing with local politicians, baseball and hiring old cronies as coaches.  His son Art Jr. was run out by brother Dan in 1985 and we really don't know anything about Art II's instincts in running an NFL franchise.  All we really know is Dan, and he is 76-years old.

Fourth, It is quite possible that having at least part ownership in the team, Druckenmiller might be willing to part with a few extra bucks each year and engage in the "cash-over-cap" escapades that Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder make an annual ritual.  Druckenmiller's heart gets broken whenever the Steelers lose.  That could bode well.

It must be emphasized that Druckenmiller is certainly not the only viable outside candidate to buy into ownership.  In fact, the Rooney brothers (except Dan) have contracted Goldman Sachs to help identify the franchise's worth and also identify potential buyers.  It may well come down to some type of bidding war.  However, at the moment, the horse that is out of the barn right now is Stanley Druckenmiller, so we may as well feature him.

So, while we sit and wait, let's try to think of the big picture here and not panic.  Not that we have any power to do anything about it anyway, but the bottom line is that the Steelers are going to remain in Pittsburgh for as long as the eye can see, and the franchise will be well run as always.