Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, hear the lamentations of their women.
Steel Maniac's Time-Based Prediction: Lamar Jackson will be a bust and total flop in the NFL.
What Actually Happened: Lamar Jackson became the youngest two-time NFL MVP winner ever.
Gloat gloat gloat
Boom........
My IT guy...Hahahahahahaha
Steelers’ Gay rises above criticism
Steelers cornerback William Gay breaks up a pass intended for Kashif Moore during practice Monday, Aug. 12, 2013, at St. Vincent in Latrobe.
By Mark Kaboly
Published: Monday, August 12, 2013
A quick Google search of ‘William Gay Stinks' comes back with more than 102,000 results in 0.19 seconds.
There are Facebook pages dedicated to the topic, endless threads on message boards, Twitter posts galore and even one of the suggestions on Yahoo! Answers for why the Steelers lost Super Bowl XLV was because “William Gay stinks.”
Some fans may believe that, but the Steelers surely don't.
“What he is, he is a scapegoat,” cornerback Ike Taylor said. “Trust me, you don't play seven years in this league if you are awful. He can play safety, he can play nickel, he can play dime, he can play corner. When you have a guy like that, Coach (Dick) LeBeau can open up the playbook.”
The Steelers were thrilled in March to have an opportunity to bring Gay back after a one-year stop in Arizona. The Steelers signed the 28-year-old to a three-year, $4.5 million contract to add to an already talented back-half of their defense as sub-package cornerback.
It's a role that Gay thrived in the year before leaving for Arizona when he had two interceptions, a career-high 14 passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.
“This is a good situation for me,” Gay said. “It is a good thing when your old team opens their arms and welcomes you back. It was the right decision, and I am happy with the decision.”
While he was supposed to provide the Steelers with the flexibility to move Cortez Allen to the slot in the nickel defense, Gay has found himself with much more responsibility.
Injuries to Allen, Curtis Brown, DeMarcus Van Dyke and rookie Terry Hawthorne have left the secondary paper thin. Gay has proven to be invaluable by moving to starting left cornerback in the base defense and to the slot during sub-package football.
Yet another example of Gay's value is that since being drafted in 2007, he's played in 96 straight regular-season games, the longest active streak among NFL cornerbacks.
“William is very intelligent, and that really is his greatest asset,” defensive backs coach Carnell Lake said. “He's open-minded and flexible enough to adjust on the run. If you tell him once, he got it and he does it.”
But, for some reason, Gay has never been able to shed criticism.
It may stem back to Adrian Peterson bulldozing Gay in the open field, then stepping on his chest in a 2009 game against Minnesota, or the three touchdown passes he allowed to New England rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski a year later.
The latest criticism came during Saturday's preseason game against the Giants when Victor Cruz caught a 57-yard touchdown over what appeared to be a badly beaten Gay.
However, that wasn't the case, and it wasn't Gay's fault.
“We know who is at fault and who messes up,” Taylor said. “And it wasn't his fault. It just so happened it looked like it was his fault.”
Even more important, Lake knows it wasn't Gay's fault.
“There are people counting on other players positioning and support, and if it is not there, you leave them hanging out to dry,” Lake said “That's what happened.”
Gay hears the criticism and says it doesn't affect him.
“Really, that doesn't faze me at all,” Gay said. “I am not going to lose sleep over something like that.”
Taylor, who works out with Gay in Florida in the offseason, has his own take on why Gay is so heavily scrutinized.
“If Robin does something good, Batman is always going to get the credit,” Taylor said. “Nobody ever talks about Robin, and that's why Robin crossed over to the dark side.”
[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/4518839-74/gay-steelers-fault#ixzz2brh1pWQm[/URL]
Steel Maniac's Time-Based Prediction: Lamar Jackson will be a bust and total flop in the NFL.
What Actually Happened: Lamar Jackson became the youngest two-time NFL MVP winner ever.
Gloat gloat gloat
Boom........
My IT guy...Hahahahahahaha
[QUOTE=hawaiiansteel;567556
“What he is, he is a scapegoat,” cornerback Ike Taylor said. “Trust me, you don't play seven years in this league if you are awful. ”[/QUOTE]
A very good point by someone who has actually played in the NFL
Where do I apply to Swaggin U?
The Steelers had a plan. The plan was to have Allen and Ike as starters. They brought in Gay to compete for the 3rd CB spot and to push some of the younger guys to get better. Gay is not a great player but he fit into the salary structure and he knows the defense. Do you know of a CB that was going to fit into the Steelers salary capp structure that was better then Gay?
Why is it that fan's expectations don't always gel with the reality of the situation? There are not enough good players to go around. Teams around the league have their own version(s) of William Gay. If Gay wasn't on the team another CB would be this team's whipping boy, ie Victorian, Brown, or someone else. I suspect that Gay was a better player then both those players before camp began. We will see what happens going forward with some of the other young players. At least the Steelers brought in a player they know can be a solid contributor.
Everyone knows that Gay isn't the long term answer. Gay was good enough to help the team win games in the past. If Gay wins the 3rd CB job it will be up to the coaches and players around Gay to limit opportunities where Gay's play might cost the team. The same can be said for all the players on this team. Not one player that's played for the Steelers played mistake free. We'll see if the Steelers strengths can over come some of their weaknesses at various times during the season.
Ike has a good way with words, but more, he's much more intelligent than he gets credit for. I suspect he's going to be in a football org, maybe as a coach, once his playing days are done. I'd take his opinion over the laity, any day.
Ranked as one of the worst CBs in 2012. Does Ike know that? I mean seriously, what was he supposed to say. The same goes for Lake.
Most teams #3 WRs are still better than Gay.
People kept making excuses for Kemo for years when most unbiased Steelers fans knew he sucked. The same goes for Gay. You know why the Steelers don't have any money right now? Because they're hanging on to players like Keisel, Foote, Burress for way to long just like they did with Hampton.
Ike, Clark, Foote, Burress, Keisel should all be gone next year. Polamalu will probably be gone the following year. Ike is making WAY to much money. If he wants to play 1 more year, take half the money he's making right now. Otherwise, see ya.
Anybody want to bet that Ike and/or Allen don't stay heathly the entire year and Gay will be forced to matchup against a #1 or #2?
Tomlin: Let's unleash hell and "mop the floor" with the competition.
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