Heath Locked Up

Here's an article. I assume you've already read the details so I'll skip all that and just get to my thoughts.

Let me just get this out of the way: Heath Miller is my favorite player. He blocks better than most of the lineman in Pittsburgh and drops about as many passes as Hines Ward. Great hands, always falls forward, punishes defenders, and when Ben throws a pick you can usually count on Heath to make the tackle. What a complete football player. He'd probably play middle linebacker if the coaches asked him to and he'd probably be good at it.

This is the NFL where a "great" TE is actually a WR that lines up next to the O-line. Antonio Gates. Dallas Clark. Jason Witten. Tony Gonzalez. These guys are known as pass catchers. Maybe not so much with Tony Gonzalez, but certainly Gates and Clark. And Jason Witten might me my favorite Cowboy, putting him somewhere above herpes and below dentist appointments in terms of things I like.

But this is Heath's big payday. I believe him to be the best all around TE in the league, and ironically I wish more plays were drawn up for him to catch passes. But he takes as much satisfaction in burying a linebacker as he does converting a 3rd-and-6, or so it would seem by the amount of celebtrating you get from him. Not a big talker. Definitely a team player. Probably smart enough to make this signing bonus last the rest of his life if he retired tomorrow. Now, for Miller, it's all about playing football. He's to the point in his life most NFL players dream of when they're little kids. Couldn't be happier for him.

I'm glad the Steelers see the same thing in Heath that I do and I'm excited for him to be a part of the future here in the 'Burgh.

Training Camp is just about underway. Time to get this party rollin'.

Roethlisberger in a Bit of a Jam

Oh good.

Everyone has already heard all about this. Every Steeler fan thinks it's nonsense, and every Browns/Ravens fan believes it as natural law. Bengals fans don't believe anything because there are no such things as Bengals fans.

Of course I think it's ridiculous, and it seems just a little bit too convenient that the woman filing the suit is only mentioning it now. Let's take a look at why:

1. The incident allegedly happened in July 2008, approximately one year ago. That sounds like enough time for any sort of physical investigation to be moot.
2. She waits for Roethlisberger to win another Superbowl and make a big public appearance at a celebrity golf tournament, just so his name is fresh in everyone's minds and everyone is aware he has a lot of money.
3. She claims that everything has been covered up by hotel staff, going as far as claiming someone on the staff befriended her parents, persuaded them to give him a key to her house, snuck in while she was hospitalized for depression, erased files on her computer pertaining to the attack, staged the moon landing in her basement, and coordinated 9/11 with the U.S. Government.

The only thing this really affects is whether or not it gets resolved by training camp. The Steelers have a lot of football to think about in preparation for their title defense, and they don't need the distractions of a civil suit hanging over their star QB.

Not that it will likely be a distraction, considering it's totally stupid. With any luck the court system will see it the same way and we can get on with football.

...Is it preseason yet?