Since the Steelers are taking risks on questionable character players...

[Dee Dub]

why not take a chance on Vontaze Burfict?

What's it gonna hurt?

[SS Laser]

I think he must really have more problems then we have heard. I predict jail soon for him. Can't think of the player more then a few years ago that was nothing but gifted and TROUBLE. He ended up in jail. He was a running back I think.

[Dee Dub]

I think he must really have more problems then we have heard. I predict jail soon for him. Can't think of the player more then a few years ago that was nothing but gifted and TROUBLE. He ended up in jail. He was a running back I think.

This kid has never had trouble off the field. The negatives are the undiscipline on the field.

[ramblinjim]

i agree. why not? if you have to cut a compensatory 7th rounder, so be it.

[SS Laser]

As far as you know Dub.8-) There has to be something besides his play and bad combine to fall this far. I read that he gave bad interviews at the combine also. But there has to be something. This has to be a epic fall.

[focosteeler]

I think his problems are big time immaturity, I really want them to take the chance. 7th round picks are worth that risk

[BradshawsHairdresser]

If I was Burfict's agent, I'd set up a meeting with the Steelers' FO, and coach Vontaze to shed a lot of tears for them and promise to take counseling, etc.

Hey, it worked for Adams...:wink:

[NJ-STEELER]

the guy seems like an azz

from what they said on espn about him being about himself to his video (no idea when it was made) but he blew a kiss to the camera.

he seems full of himself

[SteelCrazy]

He signed with the right team, the Bungles......... http://www.cincyjungle.com/2012/4/28/2985318/asu-linebacker-vontaze-burfict-reportedly-heading-to-the-cincinnati

He was very undisciplined, many fouls after the whistle......a reported failed drug test

"You think about the year he had, which wasn't spectacular, and the fact that he ran the 5-flat 40 (at the combine) and the unsportsmanlike penalties, which have been written about all year, I think you're looking at Vontaze Burfict as a guy that has probably dropped as much in this draft, in terms of ratings, as probably any prospect in recent times,'' ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. said.

[squidkid]

If I was Burfict's agent, I'd set up a meeting with the Steelers' FO, and coach Vontaze to shed a lot of tears for them and promise to take counseling, etc.

Hey, it worked for Adams...:wink:

yup, what's to lose with a 7th rounder? we got a doper and a con artist in the second

[Shoe]

If I was Burfict's agent, I'd set up a meeting with the Steelers' FO, and coach Vontaze to shed a lot of tears for them and promise to take counseling, etc.

Hey, it worked for Adams...:wink:

Haha... Adams is gonna start a trend for immature kids!

Why not? Because we aren't the Bengals, that's why. Adams was an unusual case I guess. He appealed for sympathy, and I guess the brass caved on him. I hope it doesn't come back to bite us. Rainey? I guess they felt OK with him. It is strange.

[jj28west]

There was a game last fall where he had like three blatant as can be personal fouls in a row and they still kept him in as if the coaches were afraid of him. I do remember Bryan Cox being like this and then maturing.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I think he must really have more problems then we have heard. I predict jail soon for him. Can't think of the player more then a few years ago that was nothing but gifted and TROUBLE. He ended up in jail. He was a running back I think.

Lawrence Philips, drafted by the Rams sixth overall IIRC.

[hawaiiansteel]

4/30/2012
by F. Dale Lolley

Adams, Rainey are worth the risk

PITTSBURGH - It's interesting what happens when need meet want in a shallow talent pool.
Some will look at the Steelers' draft as the team going against the grain when it comes to selecting guys who are considered character risks.

They're probably right, at least in the case of offensive tackle Mike Adams, the Steelers' second-round draft pick.

Pittsburgh selected two players in the draft, Adams and running back/wide receiver Chris Rainey, a fifth-round pick, who have arrest records.

In previous years, that might have caused the Steelers to take those players off their draft board. And in the case of Adams, it did, at least for a while.

Adams, one of the few true left tackles available in the draft, tested positive for marijuana at the NFL combine. That, coupled with other problems in Adams' past, caused Pittsburgh to drop him from draft consideration.

A private meeting Adams requested helped change the Steelers' opinion.

A Farrell native who grew up wanting to play for the Steelers, Adams assured the team he would do everything in his power to walk the straight and narrow and began work toward that goal. Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert put him back on the draft board.

"Really, we have certain criteria, and when that criteria isn't met, we're going to take guys off the board," Colbert said. "But never in my 28 years have I had a player solicit a face-to-face meeting, and us be the only team he did that with. We had nothing to lose. He explained the situation and we explained our thoughts and feelings."

In the end, the Steelers decided Adams was worth taking in the second round.

"We'll see where it goes. If it doesn't work, then it's on me because I endorsed it," Colbert said.

It's a good thing Colbert has a good track record. It's the only way he could make that kind of statement - though team president Art Rooney II and head coach Mike Tomlin also signed off on Adams.

As for Rainey, his status was different.

Rainey was arrested in 2010 for sending a threatening text message to a former girlfriend. But the Steelers had plenty of information on the former Florida star's character. They were convinced Rainey made a youthful mistake and learned from it.

Not only was Rainey a former college teammate of center Maurkice Pouncey, he lived with Pouncey family while the two were high school teammates in Lakeland, Fla.

"Knowing Maurkice's mother and father, for them to take a kid in and provide him a home in high school, it said a lot to us," Colbert said. "Those people are great folks. They provided a great home for their own children. For them to endorse this kid by letting him live with them ... it said something to us."

It doesn't hurt that Rainey is lightning in a bottle, a player favorably compared to New Orleans running back Darren Sproles.

The Steelers know they are rolling the dice with their image. But they also are comfortable enough with their own leadership - from both players and coaches - to believe the risk is worth the reward.

After being forced to part ways with several players who helped the team do so much winning in recent years, the Steelers needed to bring in the best talent possible in this draft, regardless of risk. That became an even bigger issue in a draft that lacking bona fide impact players.

The selection of guard David DeCastro in the first round was a gift. He DeCastro and Pouncey could anchor the offensive line for years.

If Adams and Rainey also work out, the Steelers will have hit a grand slam. After all, starting left tackles and game-changing running backs aren't usually available in the second and fifth rounds.

For Colbert and the Steelers, it made the risk worthwhile.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/lolley11/04-30-2012-dale-draft-wrapup-column