Some Offseason Happenings

It’s normally a pretty slow time for football news, but the past few days have given us a few minor things to make a note of.

• Joey Porter will retire as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Trib)

This is nice to see. Joey Porter was the unquestioned leader of the team while he was here, and his achievements will not be forgotten. Say what you will about his constant mouthing-off, but he backed up everything he said and you wanted Joey Porter on your team. Seeing him leave was tough on the fans, but James Harrison was ready to take over and outperform him. Still, it’s nice to see a guy like Porter come back to Pittsburgh for his final press conference. We’re looking forward to seeing him on TV and maybe someday in Canton.

•  Troy Polamalu should probably be dead by now. (ESPN)

Scary interview with Polamalu on the Dan Patrick show. Polamalu admits to regularly hiding concussions so he can keep playing football. Considering everything that’s been happening with the NHL and NFL regarding brain damage in retired players over the past two years, you have to seriously question Polamalu here. It’s not okay to hide a concussion, and Troy has no reason to. It’s not like he’s in danger of being cut, like some marignal players who hide concussions are. Players everywhere need to take better care of themselves in this regard. Let’s just hope Polamalu doesn’t end up as the poster child for why.

•  On a lighter note, the Steelers brought back Max Starks again! (PG)

This move shores up a weakness on the offensive line. Rather than having a first and second year player starting at tackle in Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams, Max Starks can come in and play the left side while Gilbert stays at right, and Adams won’t be thrown into the fire right away. Starks is coming off an injury but apparently has a clean bill of health now.

• The University of Pittsburgh will escape the Big (L)East next summer. (Trib)

WVU paid $20 million to get out. Pitt, Syracuse, and TCU paid $20 million combined. As a Pitt student, I find this tremendously entertaining.

There’s also the PSU stuff but we’re not touching that.

When life gets you down, remember the Steelers managed to draft David DeCastro.

Training camp opens in less than a week. We gave up on the daily countdown, but be honest: you didn’t miss it. Now it’s time for us to start flexing our blogging muscles again. We’re comin’ back.