Mendenhall Suspended

[spyboots]

They have to set an example, for one thing. 1. Even if inactive, for home games, you are expected to be there. 2. If they let Mendy slide on this, then they are that anyone inactive is okay not to show up. Have to keep discipline.

[NorthCoast]

They have to set an example, for one thing. 1. Even if inactive, for home games, you are expected to be there. 2. If they let Mendy slide on this, then they are that anyone inactive is okay not to show up. Have to keep discipline.

Agreed exactly. The same guys here complaining about this suspension, are the ones complaining about the Steelers lacking focus, discipline, etc. Set rules, expect them to be followed, or move on to a team that doesn't care about rules (like the Raiders).

[SteelCrazy]

Fine him 5,000 bucks, but dont suspend him. I really dont want the guy back next year (or Dwyer for that matter), but suspended for 1 game seems excessive to me. However its apparent I'm wrong.

[pittpete]

Maybe this is the move that lights a fire under these slackers butts.
Mendy was a 1st round pick
Mendy is in his contract year
He needed to perform and failed to do so.
Probably a lot more going on than we know about.
Reminds me of Ricky Williams situation except Mendy is high on life

[Slapstick]

There's a real feeling of pettiness this season in Pittsburgh- most notably in the reaction to Wallace not signing his contract offer, and then seeing Brown offered essentially mike's money in a "well, if you won't sign, we'll give it to this guy" kind of deal... and now having Mendenhall sit as a healthy inactive even though he wasn't the Lone Ranger in the fumbleathon.

Does he deserve suspension? Yeah, why not. He's gone next year. So is Wallace. But the treatment both have recieved from the FO has been really petty, and not overly proffesional.

I disagree.

To say that the Steelers "gave Brown Mike's money" would imply that the Steelers had no other reason to sign Brown and only gave him a contract out of spite. I don't think that's accurate. I think that the Steelers wanted to keep Brown regardless of their situation with Wallace. If Wallace doesn't want to sgin a contract, why would they want to deal with their top 3 WR in free agency in 2013? Brown would have been a RFA along with Sanders and Wallace an UFA. By giving Brown a contract, you've dealt with 1/3 of the problem already. I don't think that's petty...

Mendenhall received a game check for Sunday and didn't show up to the stadium. They paid him for not coming to work. Why should they not recoup that loss? To accuse the Steelers of pettiness in this situation but eaving Mendenhall blameless doesn't make any sense to me...

[Ghost]

the Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette reported Tuesday night that Mendenhall will be suspended for next Sunday's game at Dallas because he failed to show up for the Chargers game Sunday at Heinz Field, apparently because he was ticked he wasn't going to get -- in Tomlin's words -- "a hat." Mendenhall wasn't just incredibly stupid. He was incredibly selfish.

Read more: [URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/ron-cook/cook-mendenhalls-bandwagon-has-lost-final-passenger-665976/#ixzz2EqFXXLKw[/URL]

[Oviedo]

Disappointed in Mendenhall but if you act like that pack your bags and move on no matter how talented you are (maybe Mendy and Wallace can share a suitcase). His antics just cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars because teams don't rush out and pay premium dollars to RBs with attitudes and a knee injury on thier resume. RBs are a dime a dozen. Even Ray Rice had limited leverage with his team trying to get a new contract.

[Sword]

This is epic fail...Even if you don't dress you are there for team work...You have to play as a team to win...
This is like a child not getting his way....
Let him and Wallace pack there backs...

[flippy]

Mendy has become a bigger douche than Wally. We're starting to have quite a few guys negatively impacting the culture of this team.

Are there any real leaders left amongst the ranks? It doesn't feel like it.

[feltdizz]

Disappointed in Mendenhall but if you act like that pack your bags and move on no matter how talented you are (maybe Mendy and Wallace can share a suitcase). His antics just cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars because teams don't rush out and pay premium dollars to RBs with attitudes and a knee injury on thier resume. RBs are a dime a dozen. Even Ray Rice had limited leverage with his team trying to get a new contract.

Cam Cameron disagrees

[Ghost]

I'm positive Duce Staley would have lent Mendy his track suit to wear on the sidelines!

[fezziwig]

I'm starting to believe Mendenhall is an odd ball when it comes to how he deals with his team, his job, his country.

[Chadman]

I disagree.

To say that the Steelers "gave Brown Mike's money" would imply that the Steelers had no other reason to sign Brown and only gave him a contract out of spite. I don't think that's accurate. I think that the Steelers wanted to keep Brown regardless of their situation with Wallace. If Wallace doesn't want to sgin a contract, why would they want to deal with their top 3 WR in free agency in 2013? Brown would have been a RFA along with Sanders and Wallace an UFA. By giving Brown a contract, you've dealt with 1/3 of the problem already. I don't think that's petty...

Mendenhall received a game check for Sunday and didn't show up to the stadium. They paid him for not coming to work. Why should they not recoup that loss? To accuse the Steelers of pettiness in this situation but eaving Mendenhall blameless doesn't make any sense to me...

The contract offer was on the table to Wallace, from reports, quite similar to what Brown signed for, and what was it? 2 days after Wallace balked on signing, the Steelers are parading Brown around after they gave him 'Mike's contract'. It was good business- they keep their WR, all good. But you can't think this didn't have elements of "well if you won't sign it, we'll find someone who will" to it.

And just to clarify- wasn't defending Mendy. The pettiness is in making Mendy the healthy inactive after the fumbleathon, even though his RB mates were equally to blame. It's like the FO decided Mendy was more to blame.

But if you want to include Mendy's reaction to sitting, well, that'd be petty too- not turning up is a pretty petty act. Come to think of it, so is Wallace's "hard to concentrate" line of a few days ago.

[Oviedo]

The contract offer was on the table to Wallace, from reports, quite similar to what Brown signed for, and what was it? 2 days after Wallace balked on signing, the Steelers are parading Brown around after they gave him 'Mike's contract'. It was good business- they keep their WR, all good. But you can't think this didn't have elements of "well if you won't sign it, we'll find someone who will" to it.

And just to clarify- wasn't defending Mendy. The pettiness is in making Mendy the healthy inactive after the fumbleathon, even though his RB mates were equally to blame. It's like the FO decided Mendy was more to blame.

But if you want to include Mendy's reaction to sitting, well, that'd be petty too- not turning up is a pretty petty act. Come to think of it, so is Wallace's "hard to concentrate" line of a few days ago.

Chadman--I think you are 100% off base with the Wallace-Brown situation. Wallace was given every opportunity to sign the contract. There was pobviously a priority list and when Wallace balked it is only natural that they moved to the next priority. The front office knows far better than any of us the cap situation and the stratgies they have for dealing with it. As I have said many times they probably had one $8M contract allocated for the WR position and they offered their 31 priority and he balked so there is no pettiness in giving it to the next guy. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." I really think there was zero "well we'll show you" in this at all. It is just making good business decisions. If they were vindictive they could have just traded Wallace after he refused to sign.

As far as Mendy I think it is again the whole they know they future plan and we don't. They probably took the action they did because they already made the decision they were not going to retain Mendy and therefore why take carries away from the guys who they do plan to keep? They really have to see what they have in Dwyer to make an informed decision about what they do with the RB position in the off season. Can't do that if they are trying to split carries three ways, so eliminating one of the options is not a bad decision. Again a sound decision for the organization if they have already decided on a future course.

[phillyesq]

I'm positive Duce Staley would have lent Mendy his track suit to wear on the sidelines!

Completely off topic, but at a charity fundraiser the other night, I won an Eagles prize package (I was trying for a Phillies package). The package, in addition to tickets, a helmet signed by a few players. At first, it looked like it was Correll Buckhalter and a name that I didn't immediately recognize, but after seeing the full thing, it included a signature from Duce!