Of Tight Ends and Long Snappers: Farewell and Godspeed

Via Steelers Wire, USA Today Sports

Well, I guess that sixth-round pick wasted on a long snapper isn’t looking quite so dumb. When the Steelers announced the pick of Colin Holba my husband and I were on our way to a St. George’s Day dinner. (Bet you haven’t been invited to one of those lately! It’s not in the same class as my sister-in-law, who has been invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace* in a couple of weeks, but it is still pretty nice.)

But to return to the subject, I looked at the name, which I didn’t recognize, and then the “LS” next to it, and I said “Why on earth are the Steelers drafting a long snapper?!!!” Me and about 99.72% of Steeler Nation. (My guess is that the rest didn’t notice.) Between the announcement of the pick and crossing the Ft. Pitt bridge, though, I said “The Steelers must have concerns about Warren’s health.”

And if they did, they were correct to do so, as Warren failed to pass his physical. It certainly makes the pick less surprising. And as someone pointed out, it isn’t often you can draft someone in the sixth round and be fairly sure they will still be playing for you in ten years. All I can hope is that Gerry Dulac is feeling at least faintly foolish right now.

Paying It Forward: Steelers Who Are Making the World a Better Place

via Steelers.com—the annual Pouncey turkey giveaway at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

In yesterday’s 5 Smoldering Questions, Hombre de Acero added the following as a sort of bonus question:

Hopefully, all of you have non-football things to be thankful for, and those are far more important than anything that happens on the gridiron.

But who or what about the 2016 Steelers are you thankful for?

I didn’t answer that question because as it happens I’d already decided that was going to more or less be my post for today. Here goes:

So Close, Yet So Far Away: Patriots at Steelers

Via Steelers.com

I’m still busy processing this game. Strangely, I don’t quite know how to feel about it yet. On the one hand I’m glad the Steelers weren’t completely embarrassed, but on the other hand I’m frustrated that they seemed to have a genuine chance until the last half of the fourth quarter or so, but couldn’t capitalize on the gifts they received from the Patriots or from their own players.

On the one hand I’m disappointed in some guys I thought should have shown more than they did, but I’m pleasantly surprised by the unexpected contributions of some unheralded players. So I guess for the moment I’m just going to throw some of those things out there, good and bad, and give myself (and all of us) time to digest things a bit more.

A Dream Team or a Team-First Team?

Once again Bob Labriola’s feature on Steelers.com Asked and Answered has provided me with material for a post, and thank heavens for that. Here’s the question:

If you could take any defensive player and any offensive player from any team(s) in the rest of the league for the Steelers right now, who would they be?

The temptation might be to say to add an offensive superstar to the mix, such as Todd Gurley to a backfield already containing Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams, or a receiver such as Julio Jones or A.J. Green or Brandon Marshall to pair with Antonio Brown. But all-star teams don’t win championships in football. Remember when the Eagles believed they had assembled the “dream team” in 2011 only to finish 8-8? What about the 2000 Redskins, when Daniel Snyder tried to assemble a fantasy football team, and it also finished 8-8?

So, rather than mess with the chemistry and the selflessness the Steelers have created in this locker room, for offense, all I want is for everybody to stay healthy all season. Everybody. All of the starters and all of the backups, and I’ll take my chances with that group. On defense, give me the 2008 version of James Harrison – 16 sacks and 34 pressures – to go along with the rest of the existing personnel, and I would be willing to play anybody anywhere. Even the mighty Arizona Cardinals.

I read this column about five minutes after putting Ivan Cole’s post on Shaun Suisham in the queue. Ivan’s point, if I may be allowed to put words in his mouth, were that while everyone is going to have to deal with injuries, the timing of the injuries and the personnel to whom they happened was particularly problematic last season.

“I Don’t Get No Respect”: Long Snapper Greg Warren

USA Today Sports, Charles LeClaire photo

I should clarify that the quote in the title is not from Greg Warren. Those of us oldsters know it was Rodney Dangerfield who used to say it. I can’t imagine those words coming from Greg Warren’s lips. But his position is certainly one which gets little to no respect.

In the February 25 edition of Bob Labriola’s Asked and Answered on Steelers.com, the following was, well, asked and answered:

QUESTION: Just how difficult is the position of long-snapper? Seems like it should be a spot where a guy can snap and play another position as well.

ANSWER: Long-snapping is easy, until the game-winning field goal attempt sails wide because the snap was either slow or off-line. Long-snapping, which typically refers to punts, and short-snapping, which refers to placement kicks, are timed to one-hundredths of a second, and one tenth-of-a-second can be the difference between making an NFL roster and being out of football. Also, NFL snappers are expected to put the ball on the spot designated by the holder every time. EVERY TIME. Rain, cold, windy. EVERY TIME. And the best ones also shoot the ball back there right on the spot but also with the proper spin so that when the holder puts the ball on the ground the laces already are facing the way the kicker wants them. Did I mention that all of this is expected EVERY TIME? Saving a roster spot is a nice idea, but in those situations when a game is going to be decided by a kick, I want Greg Warren standing over the football, not a backup guard, or a No. 3 tight end, or whatever position that extra guy on the roster is actually playing.