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Pro Bowl isn't the best trip
Thursday, December 18, 2008
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Hines Ward issued some advice yesterday for those teammates who felt snubbed by the Pro Bowl voting, and there were many of them.
There's a better trip than the one to Hawaii. It occurs a week earlier.
"For all these guys who got slighted, let's win a Super Bowl," Ward suggested. "A Super Bowl feels a lot better. You get recognition more by winning a Super Bowl than you will by having a Pro Bowl."
Ward knows from experience. He became the first Steelers receiver to make four Pro Bowls, all in a row, then failed to get in for the 2005 season. Instead, he not only won a Super Bowl ring that season but became the game's MVP.
Only three Steelers were selected to the Pro Bowl: Linebackers James Harrison and James Farrior and safety Troy Polamalu. Among the worthy members of their No. 1 defense snubbed were end Aaron Smith, named yesterday as the AFC's defensive player of the week; linebacker LaMarr Woodley, whose 11.5 sacks are third in the conference among linebackers; nose tackle Casey Hampton, the pivot man for the NFL's second-ranked run defense; and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, whose 50 victories are the most by any quarterback in NFL history in his first five seasons and who has five game-winning drives this year.
Next
* Game: Steelers (11-3) at Titans (12-2), 1 p.m. Sunday.
* At stake: No. 1 seed in the AFC.
* TV: KDKA.
Two others who were snubbed are on special teams: Kicker Jeff Reed, who has missed only three field-goal attempts while performing in some of the toughest weather and field conditions in the NFL, and specialist Anthony Madison, whose 22 tackles leads the Steelers' revamped kick and punt coverage teams.
Ward also did not make it again, but he expects that, even though he needs only 136 more yards to have his first 1,000-yard receiving season since 2004, when he had 1,003 and made his fourth Pro Bowl.
Farrior believes all those snubbed Steelers might turn into a snarling good thing for the team, starting Sunday in Nashville, where they will try to wrest the No. 1 playoff seed from the Tennessee Titans.
"I think everybody on our team was a bit surprised we only had three picks," Farrior said.
"I definitely feel the guys are upset who thought they could have made it. I think it'll make them play a little bit differently this weekend, and from here on out they'll play with a chip on their shoulders because they felt like they deserved to be. They want to go out and try to prove to everybody they should have been in."
For the most part, the Steelers did not sound angry that either they or teammates did not make it, except for a consensus that Aaron Smith again was wrongly left off the team by the voters -- a combination of fans, coaches and players.
"I know they know who he is because they haven't blocked him in nine or 10 years," cornerback Deshea Townsend said.
Smith has been regarded in Pittsburgh as among the best defensive linemen ever to play for the Steelers, yet, because as a 3-4 end he does not get a lot of sacks, he has been left off the team all but one of his 10 seasons.
"We kind of figure it's a long-shot for us anyway with the type of defense we play and everything like that," fellow end Brett Keisel said. "But in our consideration around here we understand he's had a Pro Bowl year and he's one of the great players in this league today. Everyone knows that in here and that's all that matters."
They also noted that the New York Giants had just one Pro Bowl player selected last season and then won the Super Bowl.
"I think we have a lot of Pro Bowl-type players in here, but we're not going to get a Lombardi Trophy in Hawaii and that's what we're shooting for," Keisel said. "We have a greater task at hand right now and that's what we're focused on."
Ed Bouchette can be reached at [email="ebouchette@post-gazette.com"]ebouchette@post-gazette.com[/email].
First published on December 18, 2008 at 12:00 am
Thursday, December 18, 2008
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Hines Ward issued some advice yesterday for those teammates who felt snubbed by the Pro Bowl voting, and there were many of them.
There's a better trip than the one to Hawaii. It occurs a week earlier.
"For all these guys who got slighted, let's win a Super Bowl," Ward suggested. "A Super Bowl feels a lot better. You get recognition more by winning a Super Bowl than you will by having a Pro Bowl."
Ward knows from experience. He became the first Steelers receiver to make four Pro Bowls, all in a row, then failed to get in for the 2005 season. Instead, he not only won a Super Bowl ring that season but became the game's MVP.
Only three Steelers were selected to the Pro Bowl: Linebackers James Harrison and James Farrior and safety Troy Polamalu. Among the worthy members of their No. 1 defense snubbed were end Aaron Smith, named yesterday as the AFC's defensive player of the week; linebacker LaMarr Woodley, whose 11.5 sacks are third in the conference among linebackers; nose tackle Casey Hampton, the pivot man for the NFL's second-ranked run defense; and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, whose 50 victories are the most by any quarterback in NFL history in his first five seasons and who has five game-winning drives this year.
Next
* Game: Steelers (11-3) at Titans (12-2), 1 p.m. Sunday.
* At stake: No. 1 seed in the AFC.
* TV: KDKA.
Two others who were snubbed are on special teams: Kicker Jeff Reed, who has missed only three field-goal attempts while performing in some of the toughest weather and field conditions in the NFL, and specialist Anthony Madison, whose 22 tackles leads the Steelers' revamped kick and punt coverage teams.
Ward also did not make it again, but he expects that, even though he needs only 136 more yards to have his first 1,000-yard receiving season since 2004, when he had 1,003 and made his fourth Pro Bowl.
Farrior believes all those snubbed Steelers might turn into a snarling good thing for the team, starting Sunday in Nashville, where they will try to wrest the No. 1 playoff seed from the Tennessee Titans.
"I think everybody on our team was a bit surprised we only had three picks," Farrior said.
"I definitely feel the guys are upset who thought they could have made it. I think it'll make them play a little bit differently this weekend, and from here on out they'll play with a chip on their shoulders because they felt like they deserved to be. They want to go out and try to prove to everybody they should have been in."
For the most part, the Steelers did not sound angry that either they or teammates did not make it, except for a consensus that Aaron Smith again was wrongly left off the team by the voters -- a combination of fans, coaches and players.
"I know they know who he is because they haven't blocked him in nine or 10 years," cornerback Deshea Townsend said.
Smith has been regarded in Pittsburgh as among the best defensive linemen ever to play for the Steelers, yet, because as a 3-4 end he does not get a lot of sacks, he has been left off the team all but one of his 10 seasons.
"We kind of figure it's a long-shot for us anyway with the type of defense we play and everything like that," fellow end Brett Keisel said. "But in our consideration around here we understand he's had a Pro Bowl year and he's one of the great players in this league today. Everyone knows that in here and that's all that matters."
They also noted that the New York Giants had just one Pro Bowl player selected last season and then won the Super Bowl.
"I think we have a lot of Pro Bowl-type players in here, but we're not going to get a Lombardi Trophy in Hawaii and that's what we're shooting for," Keisel said. "We have a greater task at hand right now and that's what we're focused on."
Ed Bouchette can be reached at [email="ebouchette@post-gazette.com"]ebouchette@post-gazette.com[/email].
First published on December 18, 2008 at 12:00 am
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