Santonio deactivated Sunday

[Djfan]

i think its a stupid move. he should of waited for a decision from the nfl before doing anything. i like the discipline and i respect and like tomlin a lot but its not fair. if harrison doesnt get any punishment, neither should smokey

I know! He should've just explained he was toking on a doobie to celebrate his son's baptism and Mr. Rooney would've exonerated him.

That's funny!

[MeetJoeGreene]

I am not sure how I feel about this.

Unless he has pled guilty OR been convicted, he is still "innocent" until proven guilty.

Now, don't get me wrong, I believe he is guilty. But shouldn't we wait for the proper disposition of the law, before imposing our own punishment?

(and hopefully that disposition would come on a week when we are playing the Bungles)

Regardless. What a tool.

[ANPSTEEL]

i think its a stupid move. he should of waited for a decision from the nfl before doing anything. i like the discipline and i respect and like tomlin a lot but its not fair. if harrison doesnt get any punishment, neither should smokey

I know! He should've just explained he was toking on a doobie to celebrate his son's baptism and Mr. Rooney would've exonerated him.

[costanza2k1]

great move on Tomlin's part! We'll get to see what Nate and Sweed can do now. We still win!

[costanza2k1]

Dale Lolly's comments:

Blogger Dale Lolley said...

I wasn't in Pittsburgh today, so I won't know if Smith practiced until after they're done. I would assume he's back and will play.
Holmes has been suspended by the team for the game. Nate Washington will start against the Giants.
I doubt they'll activate a DB. No need.
As for Russell, it's going to depend on Willie Parker's status.
He looks like a career backup to me, but you never.

[Ozey74]

I have a bittersweet reaction to this. The good angle on one shoulder tells me this is the right thing to do. The devil on my other shoulder is telling me to be pissed.

[Oviedo]

Dale Lolly's comments:

Blogger Dale Lolley said...

I wasn't in Pittsburgh today, so I won't know if Smith practiced until after they're done. I would assume he's back and will play.
Holmes has been suspended by the team for the game. Nate Washington will start against the Giants.
I doubt they'll activate a DB. No need.
As for Russell, it's going to depend on Willie Parker's status.
He looks like a career backup to me, but you never.

I think Russell can be a good #2 back. He just needs to get the carries. He had some really good runs against the Jags, but last week he didn't look as good against the Bumgals. Consistency comes with repitition. Give him the rock and I think we will start to see some progress.

I really hope he starts to improve because I'm getting more and more worried about FWP. This is beginning to sound like one of those injuries that you hope heals with time, but in about a week you hear he is getting his knee scoped.

[SteelerNation1]

Dale Lolly's comments:

Blogger Dale Lolley said...

I wasn't in Pittsburgh today, so I won't know if Smith practiced until after they're done. I would assume he's back and will play.
Holmes has been suspended by the team for the game. Nate Washington will start against the Giants.
I doubt they'll activate a DB. No need.
As for Russell, it's going to depend on Willie Parker's status.
He looks like a career backup to me, but you never.

I think Russell can be a good #2 back. He just needs to get the carries. He had some really good runs against the Jags, but last week he didn't look as good against the Bumgals. Consistency comes with repitition. Give him the rock and I think we will start to see some progress.

I really hope he starts to improve because I'm getting more and more worried about FWP. This is beginning to sound like one of those injuries that you hope heals with time, but in about a week you hear he is getting his knee scoped.

Very worrisome about FWP. I still say our biggest loss wil be A Smith if he cant go.

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Here is what is on the official Steelers web site about this, including comments by Tomlin. Sounds like he is saying that with the game only 2 days away, he doesn't have time to deal with the distraction, and neither does the team.

Says he talked to Holmes ... presumably Holmes told him he did it, so that's good enough in my book to satisfy the "innocent until proven guillty" clause.

Tough game coming up, gotta break out all the towels, Jersey's, hats, and beer mugs!

*********************************************

Holmes inactive for Giants game
Friday, October 24, 2008
By Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

Wide receiver Santonio Holmes will be inactive on Sunday against the Giants while the team learns more about a traffic stop that resulted in marijuana being found in his car.

“His situation has created somewhat of a distraction,” said head coach Mike Tomlin. “We want to minimize that as much as we can and remain focused on the task at hand which is to compete and play against the New York Giants on Sunday. That is where we are at this point. We don’t have a great deal of information. We choose to address it as an organization and football team on Monday.”

Tomlin met with Holmes on Friday morning and let him know what his status would be for this week and told him to report back to the team’s practice facility on Monday.

“I notified him of that and told him I would see him on Monday morning,” said Tomlin.

Holmes has not been suspended by the team, but instead will be of one of the inactives that each team is required to have on game day.

Pittsburgh police pulled Holmes over on Thursday when they spotted his SUV, which was similar to one they were looking for in another case. At that point the marijuana was found.

Holmes has had past legal troubles, but Tomlin will not judge him based on the past but instead learn more about the current incident.

“This is the first incident that has happened with Santonio since I have been here,” said Tomlin. “I base my judgment on people off our direct interaction. This is how I choose to address it and deal with it at this time. My approach and mentality in regards to the situation might be different next week. Right now I don’t have the time or patience to delve into it. We’re just going to be prepared to play and play with the men we designate.

“I don’t have a great deal of information and this is the direction I choose to go. I choose to remain solely focused on what we have in front of us this weekend as a football team. That decision was made with that in mind.”

Nate Washington will get the start on Sunday in place of Holmes and Limas Sweed and Dallas Baker will also see action.

“He has shown that he can consistently be a big-play maker for us and has over the last two games,” said Tomlin on Washington. “We are going to need him to play big again on Sunday. He embraces that challenge. He is at a point in his career where he needs to embrace those challenges. We look forward to watching him do that.”

Running back Willie Parker missed practice for the second straight day on Friday and Tomlin listed him as doubtful for Sunday’s game.

“He showed some good things early in the week,” said Tomlin. “His participation got more limited as we went on in the week. That’s where we are with this thing. We’ll continue to take it day to day. Hopefully he will get back to us soon. I know he is chomping at the bit and so are we.”

Defensive end Aaron Smith was excused from practice for the third straight day as he deals with a personal matter and his status for Sunday’s game is unknown.

“He has our complete and full support,” said Tomlin. “He is going through a tough time right now. I would allow him to address that when he deems it necessary. At this time he has our full support and it’s questionable whether or not he will participate this weekend.”

Offensive tackle Marvel Smith will not play on Sunday after missing practice again this week with back spasms.

With Holmes out this week and the injuries the Steelers could make a roster move prior to the Giants game.

[Hogerules33]

I think we all need to be proud of the fact that our organization took the reins here and suspended him right away.

No one is indispensable (grave yards are full of indispensable people). This is what separates us from other organizations who will do anything and everything to win.

Just look at the Jaguars. That is a football organization that I normally have a lot of respect for, with the way they mirror Steeler football. However, Matt Jones was caught redhanded with cocaine in his car, and they never suspended him. He has started all year for them.

The NFL has just recently suspended Matt Jones for three games, and guess what? Jones, with the Jaguars blessing, is appealing the decision!!

It's one game guys, if we drop it due to injuries and suspensions, we will still be in the drivers seat in the division.