Please re-sign Ward, and if not, please retire, Hines.
Dermontti Dawson, Tunch Ilkin, Casey Hampton, and Hines are my all-time favorites. I really hope they bring back Hines.
by John Cole| 36 Comments
This post is in: Sports
Please re-sign Ward, and if not, please retire, Hines.
Dermontti Dawson, Tunch Ilkin, Casey Hampton, and Hines are my all-time favorites. I really hope they bring back Hines.
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Ron
I hope so too. Don’t get me wrong. It’s clear he’s at the tail end of his career, but it’s not like the Steelers have a ton of WRs signed for next season.
Yutsano
@efgoldman: They get one, and I’m certain that Brady will want to keep his favourite target. I’d also argue that keeping Welker is not the biggest of their concerns.
Omnes Omnibus
I get it. I want Donald Driver to stay in Green Bay.
burnspbesq
Let him go. Fourteen years in the NFL is long enough for anyone. Fourteen years from now, will he remember any of it?
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: Retiring is fine. For some people, one just doesn’t ever want to see them play somewhere else.
Bubblegum Tate
Exactly what I was saying earlier today. He needs to be a Steeler or retire; there is no third option. We just can’t have another Franco-Harris-in-Seattle thing happen here. Hines Ward is the Steelers, moreso than any other player.
David Koch
Huh?
No love for Neil O’Donnell?
p.a.
I’m not a mindreader, so i’ll always cut a great athlete who hangs on too long some slack: I prefer to assume they keep trying for the love of the game, not because they’re money hungry sob’s.
Donut
@Omnes
Werd. And to boot, Driver still makes clutch plays. Like Ward, he was never sprinter-fast to begin with. Favre? Couldn’t wait to see him go at the end. The thought of Driver not playing for the Pack bums me out.
Omnes Omnibus
@Donut: I hope he signs an NFL min. contract and stays another year or so and then gets a coaching or front office position. I swear on my utterly hetero heart that I love that guy. Pure class.
Jimbo316
I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. It was the first and the only one that’s allowed to keep the “h” because it was the only Pittsburgh that raised a revolt about the Government name change in the 1890s and it WON! (Look it up.) And much as I love my hometown, which is one of the all-time places to live, I am truly shocked at this announcement.
WTF!! This is not a typical Steelers family move. I mean we are talking about a major Super Bowl winner who continues to show awesome performance. I would sooner kick off Ruthlesshamburger,frankly. The Steeler management model has long been a great one but this is a big FAIL.
KG
I read somewhere that Ward would come back with a pay cut. That he understood it was a business decision.
@p.a.: for most of them, it’s all they know. And usually, they are very competitive people and don’t know of any other way to channel their drive. A guy that’s played 10+ years at the highest level of any of the major sports should have more money than he knows what to do with.
Jimbo316
@Omnes Omnibus: Folks, can you ref who you are talking about? There are multiple players being discussed. Thanks people.
Blackfrancis
He’s going to the Pats, dontcha know? A little birdie told me.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jimbo316: Driver. Double D. #80. Who cares about the Steelers? I am talking about important shit.
Donut
Donald Driver. All time Packers reception leader, barely second ranked for total receiving yards.
The prophet Nostradumbass
Steelers on the decline, Forty Niners on the rise. Yes.
Suffern ACE
Even my mom told me that she wants Donald to stay, and shes the most dispassionate packer fan I know.
Omnes Omnibus
@Suffern ACE:
No such thing. No offense to your mother intended.
Suffern ACE
@omnes-she’d cut you up instantly for doubting her dispassion. It’s kind of a sensitive subject with her.
stibbert
as a ‘burgher, i can’t say the Rooneys are overly sentimental about reserving roster slots for players who’re rapidly approaching their sell-by date. Don’t get me wrong, i think they’re among the best the NFL has going in terms of class-actness & responsibility to their fans, but they’re very pragmatic about roster moves.
i love Hines, he’s clutch & always bounced up w/ a big grin. and did srs damage to Baltimore, doubleplus good.
scav
Glorious OT only in that it matches the I Hope This is not the End bit. Getting more official News Corp may face US inquiry after Sun arrests at News International
We got the FBI, we got the SEC, Here Comes the Sun has a rising role, for once staying up too late and reading UK papers rather than being sane and going to bed — well, not that I’m sane or able to go to sleep anyway. Still, Ha!
ETA: I mean, seriously, Roll “Not prepared to deny” around your mouth for the feel of it. I’ve clearly really got the insomnia brain, but . . .
The prophet Nostradumbass
This Nicki Minaj thing is absolutely unreal in its level of terribleness.
wobblybits
@The prophet Nostradumbass:yeah, i’m trying to scrub that performance from my brain
Joel
@The prophet Nostradumbass: If I did, I would bet the Niners next season ($30 million in cap space).
Spaghetti Lee
Must be nice to have a franchise wide receiver to worry about.
Suffern ACE
@spaghetti lee- don’t worry too much. If you google “receivers are shiny hood ornaments”, some number crunchers have found that they aren’t all that valuable to keep.
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
Ward has to restructure to come back. at the vet minimum, i am ok with him as the 4th receiver. of course, that depends on whether or not they can afford cotchery once he hits the open market on march 13th. if cotchery is too expensive ward becomes the 4th receiver.
on the other hand, there may already be a plan that includes dropping ward regardless. it would suck to see him in another uniform if he really wants to play next year, but even that assumes someone else wants him.
norbizness
Does everyone remember when Hakeem Olajuwon, the only man to bring NBA championships to Houston, was a Toronto Raptor? Because I’m sure that never happened.
Dennis Doubleday
Love Hines, too, but Cotchery is a better option at this point if they can only keep one.
SKI
Hines = head-hunting cheap-shot artist.
J R in WVa
I have a lot of respect for Ward Hines, who is the hardest blocking receiver in the league. For the Steelers to drop him out of the starting rotation is, well – not very good from my perspective, where I think you should show faith in your leaders.
I see on Google news where Randy Moss is interested in returning to NFL – perhaps Hines Ward could teach Randy how to block and be more of a team player. That’s the only thing that will give Randy another few years to nail down some meaningful records and a sure shot at the Hall of Fame.
Not to mention putting some money away for the rest of his life. I think he has the ability to be a big time asset to any football team, but only if he exhibits teamwork and a real work ethic. Hard to tell if any team with the other parts necessary to compete will pick him up.
One thing he doesn’t need is to be picked up by a team with no pass-rush blockers and no deep-throwing quarterback. He would just look like a luser with the Titans, or Tampa, but NOLA, on the other hand… Or Greenbay, or the Stillers….
Slaughter
Team leaders are guys who perform and put up numbers. Hines has had a Hall of Fame career, but he hasn’t been able to separate himself from cornerbacks the past two years. I hope he retires as a Stiller and works either in the front office or as a coach. Failing that, there’s always Arthur Murray.
honus
@Jimbo316: “The Steeler management model has long been a great one but this is a big FAIL.”
I’ve been watching the Steelers for over 50 years. Their management is OK, but not great. Mainly they’ve been patient with their coaches, since Chuck Noll. But they have a long history of some pretty silly front office moves, from cutting (Pittsburgh native) Johnny U, to passing over (Pittsburgh native) Danny Marino.
It was just a few seasons ago they gave Tommy Maddox a big raise while refusing to renegotiate Hines’ contract the same year.
honus
@SKI: Um, excuse me. Receivers, especially Hines, take so many shots that by definition they cannot be cheap shot artists. A DB’s job description, until very recently, was “cheap shot artist”
Paul in KY
He looked old when I saw him play this year. Probably needs to retire before some DBs lay him out.