Steelers | Holmes' lawyer says new evidence clears him

[ghettoscott]

I hope the guy that confessed got some good coin!

Yup. I bet Santonio would rather pay the guy than that heffer....

[hawaiiansteel]

According to published reports, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes may miss some time during the 2010 NFL season. According to ProFootballTalk.com, Holmes could be facing a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

"It's not necessarily a failed test; it can be the failure to show up for a test. There are various ways a violation can occur, and the way the substance abuse program can work, there are levels. So, to get to the point were your even in line for a four-game suspension, that implies that there have been multiple prior violations," said Mike Florio, of ProFootballTalk.com.

"I think it explains why they've brought in receivers via free agency. Why they've visited with six receivers who are in this year's draft class. They are thinking about the future," said Florio. "But the problem is who ever has Santonio Holmes, until he exits the program, if this four-game suspension sticks, that team will be dealing with the possibility of one missed test, one positive result, one violation, and you have a one-year suspension just like what Ricky Williams went through."

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[hawaiiansteel]

Holmes claims his Twitter account was hacked

Posted by Mike Florio on April 12, 2010


We reconfigured various Monday afternoon radio spots in the hopes of being able to participate in the conference call conducted on Monday regarding the Jets' trade for receiver Santonio Holmes.

The call was supposed to start at 4:00 p.m. It didn't. When 4:20 p.m. ET rolled around, I needed to wake and bake. (I hope I'm finally using that term correctly.)

Eventually, the call occurred. During the discussion, Holmes was asked about a Twitter exchange from the day after news broke of a lawsuit filed against Holmes based on allegations that he threw a drink in a woman's face.

Holmes told a Twitter user that he "shud try finding the worst thing that you could drink n kill urself.

"It wasn't me," Holmes said, per Manish Mehta of the Newark Star-Ledger. "I never tried to defend myself on that topic among anyone on Twitter or among anyone that tried to ask me for interviews. . . . I would definitely be accountable for my actions if I did say it."

So why wouldn't he have defended himself? All he'd need to do is delete the tweet and post a new one explaining that his account had been accessed by something not authorized to use it.

Besides, Holmes has a "Verified Account." In other words, the stuff he says on it are regarded as his words. If he failed to secure his user name or password and someone else made that statement, Holmes is still responsible. At a minimum, he needs to offer an explanation more detailed than "it wasn't me."

At some point, Holmes has deleted the tweet. However, he has yet to remove the one in which he declares an intention to "wake n bake," or where he reminds the fans that "u don't cut my check."

But at least this story has a somewhat happy ending. On March 30, he pointed out that he loves the Jets.

Then again, maybe it wasn't him.

[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/12/holmes-claims-his-twitter-account-was-hacked/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... as-hacked/[/url]

[hawaiiansteel]

Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:29 am EDT

Steelers trade Santonio Holmes to Jets for a used blocking sled


The first surprising news of the evening was that the Pittsburgh Steelers traded troubled wide receiver Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets.
Second, and even more shocking, were the reports of what the Steelers got from the Jets in return: a 5th-round draft pick.

Just to recap, Santonio Holmes(notes) is 26 years old, a former first-round draft pick, has racked up 3,835 receiving yards in his four years in the league, become a favorite target of Ben Roethlisberger(notes) and, oh yeah, won a Super Bowl MVP.

And all he could fetch in a trade was a 5th-rounder?

Sure, Santonio may have some substance-related issues, and he may enjoy some inappropriate beverage-hurling, but still, a fifth-round pick? That seems closer to the asking price for Limas Sweed(notes) than Santonio Holmes.

It's a nice acquisition for the Jets, but for a lot of reasons, it's a much bigger deal for Pittsburgh. Let's start with on-the-field repercussions. This weakens the Steelers, without question. Rookie third receiver Mike Wallace was impressive last year and everything, but let's not get carried away: He's had one year, in which he made 39 catches as a number three receiver on whom no one was focusing their defense. That is not the same as producing Santonio-like stats as a number two.

And I always felt like there was great on-field chemistry between Ben Roethlisberger and Holmes. So many times when Roethlisberger ran for his life and extended a play about 8 seconds beyond its original design, he looked at Holmes to get open and bail him out. Holmes had the physical skills and the right mindset to play with a quarterback who improvises as much as Roethlisberger.

For a team that features the passing game as heavily as the Steelers, this is a very bold move. It's a risk.

So why take it? Well, the most likely thing is that the Steelers felt they had to do it. With all the recent negative headlines surrounding the team, I guess they felt like they had to send a message to potential troublemakers: If you behave like an idiot, you cannot be a Pittsburgh Steeler.

I still question taking the short end of the stick in a trade in order to make that point, but, you know, if a point's got to be made ... they just made it with authority.

Ideally, this works out for the Steelers a lot like it did when they let Plaxico Burress(notes) leave as a free agent. After one Plaxico-free year, they drafted Holmes, and they were immediately back to having a fearsome duo at wide receiver. If everything goes perfectly, Wallace steps into that role now, and he and Ward are still a receiving force to be reckoned with.

More importantly, the message (which SI's Peter King has already described as "shot across the bow to Big Ben") gets through, too, and the Steelers can take a baby step back towards being viewed as an organization that only employs football players of decent character.

UPDATE: ESPN is reporting that Holmes will be suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season.

[url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shu...urn=nfl,233473"]http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shu...urn=nfl,233473[/url]

[hawaiiansteel]

In a fan poll asking, “Will the Steelers regret trading Santonio Holmes?” After 5,457 votes, the results:

Yes-43%

No-56%


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