So I'm assuming you enjoyed watching Holmes give away the game against the Eagles? Or is that not part of your understanding of what happened? A WR is value-added. They absolutely cannot under any circumstances cause two turnovers in a game because even the best WR's don't add that much value back after the fact. That Holmes two turnovers happened before any momentum had been established on either side is even more damning. He just handed the Eagles a rout.
My point is that Pitt did not think highly enough of Holmes as player to overlook his upcoming 4 game suspension. Again Big Ben didn't help him and Mike Wallace was developing nicely but maybe he is not the player we thought he was and Pitt was not that devasted to lose him. Actions off the field represent leadership qualities, or lack of them, as much as on the field and at training.
The Steelers have had back to back 12+ win seasons for the first time since 78-79. They got to the Super Bowl last season. I don't think they miss Santonio Holmes at all. They had a disappointing 9-7 season in 2009 and they identified one of the cancers in their locker room and they cut it out at whatever cost and were rewarded with two strong seasons back to back. Holmes wasn't with the team in 2004 and 2005 the last time they were this good.
my understanding of the situation from that time was more that given everything that was going on then with Big Ben that they had to be seen to be doing something about their issues and it was a lot easier to part ways with holmes than with their QB so holmes was something of a sacrificial lamb.
Holmes was a first round pick of the Steelers in 2006. He was Super Bowl MVP in 2008. He was progressing very nicely as a WR and had good chemistry with his QB. He had a breakout season in 2009. You just don't let go of those guys, and definitely not cheaply. There was something really wrong in that locker room for the Steelers to have made the move they did. Do you know what happened to the Steelers in 2009? They go off to a really hot start and went 6-2 to start the season. Then they had a 5 game losing streak in which Santonio Holmes looked wonderful. He caught 6+ passes in each of the losses as the Steelers went from 6-2 to 6-7. The Steelers finished the season with a 3 game win streak and Holmes caught a grand total of 9 passes in the 3 wins. He had 3 against the Packers in a 37-36 shootout. He had 5 against the Ravens and then he had 1 catch for 5 yards against Miami in the season finale. A season finale in which the Steelers were still alive for a playoff spot going in. I'm guessing that Holmes got too loud in the locker room about his looks down the stretch and it got old in a hurry, only the Steelers actually have a collection of leaders and he got run out in the end.
every time somebody bumps this thread I hope it is because Mehta has finally come forward, stood up like a man and admitted his article included fictionalized "sources"
After yesterday, how can you still believe that his sources are "fictional"? Of course, he's a pussy for hiding behind anonymous ones and probably shouldn't run the story if he can't get a t least one guy on the record, but it seemed to me at the time (and it's even more apparent now) that he didn't make up sources.
I was very critical of Holmes for the Philly game. But that was only one game in the season. By the measure you apply against Holmes, Sanchez had 10 shitty seasons in one year.
Youre a tool for even suggesting that this is fictionalized. No way in hell is he going to ruin his job and his entire career by making something like this up. Go to wfan.com and listen to the Joe and Evan podcast with Mehta to hear all his good reasons on why he reported to story without naming names. You might learn something.
When you say "as a player" do you mean off the field or on it? To the extent you mean on the field, the only reference you make is to off the field situations. I don't dispute that a player's behavior off the field says something about his leadership qualities, and in hindsight it was a mistake to make Holmes a captain. But those issue have next to nothing to do with how well Holmes played on the field.
please....tabloid and internet "journalists" use "unnamed sources" every time they write a story. And 90 percent of the time these "unnamed sources" are made up. Newspapers and PFTs etc want headlines and don't really give a crap whether there is any integrity in the way the story is obtained
This story he wrote is more like 100 percent accurate and the bottom line is he should apologize for nothing-----it looks like YOU are now twisting in the wind----enjoy the Koolaid
BARCS is that a serious question ? Mcelroy says things,,,"ah he's a third stringer " Jenkins ''''''''' "not even on the team " Damien Woody-----blah blah same shit LT future hall of famer--leader on our team----pretty much confirms everything in the article,,,has the balls to put his name on it,,,,,, yeah I guess you are rite I need proof :beer: ps LT on NFL live rite now
I just realized that the anonymous sources were actually the hacking group 'anonymous'. Makes perfect sense. You said the story was 100% accurate. By 100% that implies the entire thing, including all anonymous comments, that have yet to be owned up to or even shown to be real. That's what I like to call speculation. :manning: