Willie Colon

[Oviedo]

I must say.....for the first time in a long time, I'm actually excited to see what the offensive line is going to look like this season. I'm excited to see Willie Colon move over to LG. I've been wanting the Steelers to make that move for a while now. I think he could be a Pro Bowl type LG and with his nasty streak he will fit well inside. I'm excited to see the rookies,(DeCastro and Adams)....they are both major upgrades to the front wall. I expect DeCastro to start from day 1 at RG and probably be there for the next 10-12 years. Adams could take a while to develop and I could see the Steelers bringing back Starks to be a buffer if Adams is not completely ready. I would be absolutely happy with an offensive line on opening day consisting of:

LT: Starks
LG: Colon
C: Pouncey
RG: DeCastro
RT: Gilbert

Bench: Adams, Legursky, and Foster

That's a solid 8 on game day. The best we have seen in Pittsburgh since maybe the mid 90's with potential to be even better. I look forward to not worrying about #7 every time he drops back to pass. This lineup has the potential to get the Steelers back to being a threat on the ground consistently as well. I can't believe I'm acutally excited about the OL!!! It's been a long time coming!!!

I'm all for bringing Max Starks back. He is solid if not spectacular and would be the perect "team guy" to groom Adams. However, this is not last year when he came back to an offense he knew down pat. With the change Haley is putting in especially with the blocking calls we need to get Starks back in sooner rather than later.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Looks like old Willie is trying to do his impersonation of a freight train. If he could get that frame moving and has some body control...I would hate to see what he will do on Counter 34 Pike. Oh wait...Here is what ol Ray Ray will see. Looks like he has been beefin up for his new role.

WILLIE COLON.JPG

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

You will have to click on image to see what I am talking about.

[Chadman]

Colon's got some impressive guns on him..

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Colon's got some impressive guns on him..

I guess the weight room has become a familiar sight to him even after rehab. I don't think he will lose many "leverage" battles at LG. I can't wait to see what he could do on the move getting his helmet under a LB's facemask when he pulls. That is the only question mark in my mind is what he can do on the move. Does he have good enough feet and body control in space to turn up in a hole and hit a moving target. I think he will be stout on the interior and very solid in pass pro which is an upgrade over Foster & Bronco. If he can give you what Kemo gave the Steelers when pulling...God help whomever is standing in his way. If he is...Having the tandem of Colon & Decastro removes the handing and really will have teams struggling for gameplans against the run.

[Oviedo]

Colon's got some impressive guns on him..

Those aren't guns those are 16" cannons from a battleship.

[RuthlessBurgher]

[phillyesq]

Article from Wolfley:

[URL]http://craigwolfley.com/2012/05/1467/[/URL]

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers’ Colon once again trying to walk in Faneca’s footsteps

By Scott Brown - Tribune-Review
Published: Monday, June 11, 2012



Steelers offensive lineman Willie Colon during OTAs June, 2012

His first reaction when he walked into the Steelers’ locker room and saw he would dress next to Alan Faneca? Oh, no!

It’s not that Willie Colon, a wide-eyed rookie from a school that doesn’t even have football anymore, had heard bad things about Faneca. He simply was in awe of the perennial Pro Bowl guard.

Colon didn’t dare talk to the legend to the left of him. And Faneca didn’t talk to Colon until near the end of the 2006 season, after Colon had taken over at right tackle for the injured Max Starks.

“Once I started being a professional, that’s when he acknowledged me,” said Colon, a fourth-round pick out of Hofstra in 2006. “As I’m sitting right where he (was), I can get it, because if you’re right-minded, you’re professional and you’re strong-willed, you want people who are like that next to you. He didn’t know how I was as a person or a ballplayer until I actually had a chance to show him.”

Six years later, Colon is hoping to measure up to another lofty standard set by Faneca.

Colon has moved from right tackle to left guard, the position Faneca gold-plated during 10 seasons in Pittsburgh. And his transition continues today when the Steelers convene for a three-day mandatory minicamp at their South Side headquarters.

Colon has worked at left guard since the start of offseason practice, and he could provide consistency the position has lacked since the Steelers allowed Faneca to leave as a free agent following the 2007 season.

Colon has the same nasty disposition as Chris Kemoeatu, the primary starter at left guard the past four seasons, and he is a proven NFL lineman, having excelled as a right tackle when healthy. What really gives the Steelers hope that Colon can become a premier guard is he has embraced change despite being an established veteran.

“If he was reluctant and didn’t want to be a guard, it wouldn’t work,” Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler said. “Willie wants to be the best guard he can be, and he’s working on it. He’s constantly there in the film room, constantly asking questions. Things he’s made mistakes on, he wants to work on. I think he’s going to be an excellent guard, and he’s only going to benefit us up front.”

Colon started 54 consecutive games at right tackle from 2006-09, and he has had to adjust to his new position. The 6-foot-3, 315-pounder is playing in a more confined space and working more with the interior lineman. He also will pull frequently — if the Steelers’ recent tendencies are any indication — something Colon didn’t do as a tackle.

Pulling will require Colon to be patient yet explosive before the start of a play.

“Willie has a lot of the natural assets and skill to be a great left guard,” former Steelers offensive tackle Max Starks said. “He is a strong and powerful dude. He likes to get nasty in the trenches, so I think it is a really good move.”

Colon is the most experienced player on an offensive line that could start two rookies in 2012. That stature makes him shake his head when he recalls his first few seasons with the Steelers.

“I’ll get a tap on the shoulder. ‘Hey, what were you thinking on this play?’ Or ‘Why did you set like this?’ ” Colon said. “It baffles me because I’m like, ‘Wow, I was that guy that was tapping Alan Faneca on the shoulder, and I was the guy tapping Marvel Smith on the shoulder.’ I wear it with pride, but I (also) wear it with humbleness.”

[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/1925985-85/colon-steelers-guard-faneca-tackle-didn-willie-position-agent-alan[/URL][/QUOTE]

[hawaiiansteel]

Colon missed his first love

Teresa Varley - Steelers.com
June 18, 2012


For a man who eats, breathes and sleeps football, a man who has put football ahead of other things in his life, a man who treats it like it's his first love, having it taken away from him the last two years has been challenging for Steelers guard Willie Colon.

Colon suffered a torn ACL before the 2010 season, bringing his season to an abrupt and disappointing ending before it even got started.

“I think the first year was really tough for me,” said Colon. “I felt like I was getting everything. You talk to the older players and they say it takes two to three years to get in the groove. I felt like I had a good spring and was turning it up as far as being a legit tackle in the league. There was so much work I was putting in so when it happened it blew my mind. “

Colon worked his tail off to get back on the field for the 2011 season opener against Baltimore, never easing up and was proud of how far he had come and excited to be playing again. But it didn’t last long. He tore his triceps muscle against the Ravens, and for the second-straight year found himself on injured reserve.

“The second time was the hardest,” said Colon. “As a player you think you are going to have only one big injury in your career. I thought that was it. I had a good camp, week one I felt good in Baltimore. I was back in the groove.

“When I tore my triceps I didn’t think about it. I knew it hurt but at the same time it was a normal football injury. When (athletic trainer) John Norwig told me I was going to be out again that was the hardest. I thought I was done with injuries. It was heart breaking.”

Colon couldn’t help but ask himself, why me? What have I done to deserve this?

“That is the number one question. You wonder who did I tick off ,” said Colon. “The toughest thing in life is to accept reality. I realized this is my reality and I can either cry about it or get back on the horse and get better and work from it. That is how I approached it, every day getting better and staying positive.”

Keeping that positive attitude wasn’t always easy. There were definitely rough patches, times when disappointment meshed with anger, creating some long days, and even longer nights.

“You hear Coach (Mike) Tomlin talk about the love affair with this game,” said Colon. “I have a deep love affair with it. I have sacrificed relationships, my own body and mind, my every day growth to be a football player.

“There is so much that goes into this game. You have to have balance, though. If you don’t have balance you can fall off the deep end. I fell off that deep end and was able to climb back up that ladder. I just have to take it day by day.”

Colon made the choice to stay involved when he was injured and offensive line coach Sean Kugler embraced that and was a rock for Colon. He attended meetings, helping younger players, attended practice, and made sure he was there all of the time. It helped his teammates, but it helped him even more.

“I just wanted to cling to everything football had to offer, being around the guys and stuff,” said Colon. “I wasn’t ready to leave it. Every inch of it I grabbed on to. Part of that was being in the meeting room, on the sidelines, being a rah-rah guy. It helped me feel like football wasn’t leaving me.”

The ACL injury is well in Colon’s rearview mirror, and the triceps injury is headed there as well. He is back to where he was before the injury, now working at left guard as he revealed last week. He came back early this offseason, one of just a handful of starters who has consistently been at the team’s practice facility well before he had to.

“I was out for so long I missed it,” said Colon. “I felt like I needed to catch up. I needed to get back in the groove. One of the hardest things was getting back in the groove of things, the schedule. I just wanted to get back to that, feel it and go through the daily transition of what it takes to be a ball player.

“I learned a lot about myself during the injuries. I had a lot of dark nights, wanted to give up. But it made me think about how much I love the game, and I thought about the good times and it lit my fire. I love coming out of the tunnel and hearing the fans cheer. That feeling you get in your gut, the nerves. I still have that in my belly. That kept me going. Even now, when I see my helmet, put my cleats on, I still have that fire that I want to play football.”

[URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Colon-missed-his-first-love/e641b719-15df-4025-ae08-e6c7e472dfe0[/URL]

[RuthlessBurgher]

I think Colon staying involved throughout his injuries, attending meetings, going to practice, helping out the younger guys, etc. had a huge impact on the decision to give him the extension after the 2010 season that was lost to injury (I believe it was an Achilles injury, not an ACL as Varley reports above). A lot of the reasons for hits/misses in the draft has to do with guesswork involving how much a guy truly loves the game. Colon's attitude during these injuries has displayed his passion toward the game, and it is great to have guys like this around. Marginally talented guys with great attitudes who love this game tend to be more valuable pieces than supremely talented guys with poor attitudes who only play the game for a paycheck.

[Slapstick]

I wouldn't even consider Colon only marginally talented...

I think we'll see him shine even brighter as a Guard...

Also, it will lessen the possibility of him lining up too far off the ball, which he did entirely too often...

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers LG Willie Colon Offers Insight Behind Two Season-Ending Injuries

by Neal Coolong on Jun 19, 2012



Steelers then right tackle Willie Colon made it through all 64 plays in the Steelers' opening loss to Baltimore - a 35-7 shellacking by the eventual AFC North champions.

As if that loss wasn't hard enough to take, the following week he lost something else; again.

His season.

The mental makeup of a professional athlete is just as extraordinary as his/her physical gifts. Dealing with setback after setback has to be difficult.

But as Steelers.com writer Theresa Varley pens, Colon is just as tough mentally as physically.

Colon really lets his hair down - pun intended - in the interview on Steelers.com. More than anything, the interview shows Colon's commitment to the team. Instead of staying away from the facility, Colon embraced his leadership role, working with his replacement - then rookie Marcus Gilbert - as well as the rest of what was generally a young offensive line in 2011.

"I just wanted to cling to everything football had to offer, being around the guys and stuff," Colon told Varley. "I wasn't ready to leave it. Every inch of it I grabbed on to. Part of that was being in the meeting room, on the sidelines, being a rah-rah guy. It helped me feel like football wasn't leaving me."

Unfortunately for him, he had experience. After missing the Steelers run to the Super Bowl in 2010, Colon had chosen to stick around the team, helping the rest of the offensive line as well as coach Sean Kugler and QB Ben Roethlisberger.

Guys don't get contract extensions like Colon did after missing a season if a team doesn't want him around.

It's a different world in 2012. The Steelers offensive line shows all the reason in the world to think what was once a weakness will be a strength. Colon, whose physical build as well as mentality makes him seemingly more suitable for an interior lineman, will play left guard this season. His move there, along with first-round draft pick RG David DeCastro and C Maurkice Pouncey, could give the Steelers one of the most formidable interior offensive lines in football.

Pouncey is recovering from injuries that kept him down much of 2011, and DeCastro's work ethic and technical savvy give the Steelers versatility - all three can pull, all three can maul and all three can pass protect.

Colon's got the edge in adversity experienced, though.

"I learned a lot about myself during the injuries. I had a lot of dark nights, wanted to give up. But it made me think about how much I love the game, and I thought about the good times and it lit my fire. I love coming out of the tunnel and hearing the fans cheer. That feeling you get in your gut, the nerves. I still have that in my belly. That kept me going. Even now, when I see my helmet, put my cleats on, I still have that fire that I want to play football."

[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2012/6/19/3096509/pittsburgh-steelers-offensive-line-willie-colon-injuries-maurkice-pouncey-david-decastro[/URL]

[Jackson]

Is this Colon clown still on the team? If so,why? How many years does it take to find an upgrade over a nonentity like this guy. The Ravens do it all the time. They must like Willie. Or feel sorry for him. Is he really a serious candidate to make this team?

[hawaiiansteel]

Is this Colon clown still on the team? If so,why? How many years does it take to find an upgrade over a nonentity like this guy. The Ravens do it all the time. They must like Willie. Or feel sorry for him. Is he really a serious candidate to make this team?