Media vignettes for your pleasure
Days in the Life
Just to give a reporter无毛视频檚 perspective today, the so-called Days in the Life, I无毛视频檓 going to roll out some media vignettes for your reading pleasure.
But please remember, these are only OTAs. The real hitting won无毛视频檛 start until late July.
I.
We in the media have about a 10 percent chance of scoring the one-on-one interview of our choice here at spring practices with the Steelers, so it无毛视频檚 wise to have about three players-of-choice in mind as the team walks off the field.
Since we无毛视频檙e not allowed in the locker room until the official minicamp, we have about 10 minutes to interview on the field, and if we无毛视频檙e lucky a one-on-one takes up about six of those minutes. If we无毛视频檙e even luckier, the words are not plucked out of the air by anyone else无毛视频檚 tape recorder.
That无毛视频檚 almost an impossibility as someone in the vast mob sees your choice and thinks, 无毛视频淵eah. That无毛视频檚 a good idea.无毛视频�
So as Heath Miller began drawing the flies following practice, I had two other guys in mind: LaMarr Woodley and Jonathan Dwyer.
While Woodley may not want to talk about those comments from an anonymous teammate that pretty much labeled him a shirker last season, he was looking fit and that无毛视频檚 a story in itself.
My second choice, Dwyer, may not want to talk about his poor conditioning last season, but he has been getting the first-team reps this spring, and that, too, is a story.
So, which one do I grab?
Well, radio man Joe Starkey solved my dilemma by taking Woodley off to the side, so I was left with Dwyer, who gave me honest answers to my difficult questions.
To my pleasant surprise, a mob had encircled Starkey and Woodley. They not only ruined Joe无毛视频檚 one-on-one, but provided me with a transcript that was posted in the media section of Steelers.com. These were the highlights from Woodley:
无毛视频� 无毛视频淭he anonymous person is right next to me, my locker. It无毛视频檚 my locker so there is no one there. I don无毛视频檛 know who said it.无毛视频�
无毛视频� 无毛视频淚t just comes with the territory. You deal with it and you continue to march on with your day.无毛视频�
无毛视频� 无毛视频淓verybody thought that last year I was out due to hamstring injuries but it wasn无毛视频檛 that. It was due to a high ankle sprain in the Cleveland Browns game early in the first quarter when somebody fell on my ankle.无毛视频�
无毛视频� 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 good to go. Ask the anonymous person. They can answer it better than I can.无毛视频�
As for my opinion, Woodley looks fit. Or, I should say, he looks like he always has. But perhaps I无毛视频檓 the wrong person for this comment because I thought he was large and lumbering coming out of college, and he无毛视频檚 surprised me with his range ever since. I just haven无毛视频檛 seen this out-of-shape linebacker that so many have criticized the last few years. He无毛视频檚 the same guy to me.
But then again, that无毛视频檚 just me.
II.
Mike Tomlin spotted a couple of us reporters on the sideline and made his way over and with a big smile asked, 无毛视频淎re any of you under any undue pressure to come up with any real stories today?无毛视频�
Now, that was a paraphrase. The real words聽无毛视频� since forgotten聽无毛视频� were far better phrased, far more Tomlin-esque. The guy, in fact, should be writing this column.
Anyway, I smiled back and said that, no, there isn无毛视频檛 any undue pressure, but that people really are interested in the seemingly innocuous minutiae of football in shorts.
无毛视频淟ike Reggie Dunn having 4.2 speed,无毛视频� I said as Heath Miller walked past us in the background. 无毛视频淥r Heath Miller walking without a limp.无毛视频�
无毛视频淗ey, Heath,无毛视频� Tomlin called over. 无毛视频淵ou无毛视频檙e walking without a limp. You just made the 11 o无毛视频檆lock news!无毛视频�
Miller only said, 无毛视频淵eah, about a month ago.无毛视频�
III.
I无毛视频檝e had good days with Ryan Clark, and I无毛视频檝e had bad days with him.
Thursday was a great day with Clark, and it came as a bit a surprise because it started off with a complaint.
Clark approached me on the sideline, during practice, while I was talking to the PR staff about what had just been my fourth rules violation in four practices.
Not that anyone was upset with me. It无毛视频檚 more of a clarification process as the team bears down on media regulations during spring practices.
But I was worried about being on some sort of record pace that might end in a head-on collision, so when Clark approached I could just see a fifth consecutive violation on the following rule: no socializing with players or coaches during practice.
无毛视频淛im, you无毛视频檙e a guy I respect,无毛视频� said Clark, a guy who无毛视频檚 given me both barrels in the past when he hasn无毛视频檛 liked something I无毛视频檝e written.
We无毛视频檝e hashed things out, though, like reasonable men, so I appreciate his respect and in turn respect him.
无毛视频淪o I want to ask you a question,无毛视频� he continued. 无毛视频淛ust because I am proactive in pursuing a career in pro football punditry, does it mean I love being on this grass any less?无毛视频�
And then he raced back to the field to continue practice.
I wondered if this was some kind of Zen riddle, or if he had been hanging around with Troy Polamalu a bit too much, and then he turned back and hollered: 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 what you wrote about me, remember?无毛视频�
I guess I did. Maybe. It was a bit cloudy, though, so I looked it up.
With Ryan Clark entering the final year of his contract, and apparently preparing for his life无毛视频檚 work in football punditry, it appears that Troy Polamalu is the free safety of the future.
I had written that in the most recent issue of Steelers Digest. I looked there first because I know some of the players read that column. I mean, who doesn无毛视频檛 enjoy notes columns?
But Clark took exception to the fact I had implied that his impressive work with ESPN is a signal he无毛视频檚 ready to retire.
I countered that I无毛视频檝e covered the team long enough to believe the Steelers won无毛视频檛 offer a 34-year-old a new contract, and that taking another option was a better way for him to bow out rather than just being let go.
无毛视频淏ut I don无毛视频檛 want to take that option right now,无毛视频� Clark said. 无毛视频淚 want to keep playing. I love this game. I love this team. In fact, my agent is trying to get an extension for me right now.无毛视频�
And, really, the more I think about it the more I see Clark coming back. He无毛视频檚 been one of the top free safeties in the NFL the last couple of years, hasn无毛视频檛 shown any signs of slowing down, and the Steelers have a history of sticking with their free safety well into old age. (Just kidding, Ryan, but see Brent Alexander.)
And, really, the Steelers don无毛视频檛 have another free safety in the pipeline, unless Robert Golden surprises us this season.
I told Clark that I had come to this new conclusion the third time he stopped over 无毛视频� this time during a special-teams session 无毛视频� and he nodded without comment.
We went on and had a friendly conversation about life in the media, his appearance at the LSU pro day, and how well he thinks Eric Reid and Shamarko Thomas are going to do as NFL safeties.
All in all it made for a great day, and all because I had written something a player didn无毛视频檛 like.
And I wasn无毛视频檛 found in violation by the team, either. That seems to be a miracle these days.