Welcome to Steelers Takeaways!

Thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit about my time in Pittsburgh and what is going on in my life now.

Being a part of those teams in 2008 and 2009 was a great ride for me that I continue to pull from in my everyday endeavors. Just like most guys who play professionally, it never last as long as you want it too, but I enjoyed my time. Being able to learn from all of the staff, coaches, and players was great.

Continue reading “In His Own Words: Donovan Woods”

So I decided it was time to win the lottery. My wife and I are tired of working and paying bills. We’re not in our 20’s anymore. Heck, we’re not even in our 30’s anymore. We’re not even…I’ll stop right there. We talk about what to buy with the money we’re going to win. The house is getting paid off. The Jeep and the Tundra will officially be ours. College tuition is starting to build. We love the Outer Banks too. Especially Waves and those smaller towns on the lower island. Probably buy a house on the beach. We’d have Steeler parties on gameday. But what else would we buy?

Continue reading “Vintage Steelers: Winning the Lottery”

Nothing says “I want to golf” like sitting inside because it’s cold outside and wishing that I was on the golf course. Sunday afternoons are made for heading to the golf course…unless of course, I’m waiting for the Steelers game to start. Talk about two totally different things to do in a day, but one can be just as frustrating as the other. If golf is a sport then so is watching the Steelers on tv, especially when they’re not playing well against an inferior team. With golf, about every other swing has a result that I didn’t want. Sometimes it results in a beverage being consumed…you know what I’m talking about. It’s the same with watching the Steelers. Every so often a play goes horribly wrong, offense or defense, which results in a beverage being consumed…you know what I’m talking about. Whether I miss a putt or Boswell misses a PAT. Whether I shank a shot or Big Ben throws a pick six. It doesn’t matter if I slice one into the woods or the defense gives up a long TD run. Both “sports” can be crushing to my psyche, and my day. Therefore, if golf is a sport then so is watching the Steelers play.

Continue reading “Vintage Steelers: Golfing with the Steelers?”

First, tell me how you got started as a draft analyst?

Well, I was always a football fan, even as a small child. The Post Cereal Company use to have a contest to see who could guess the offensive and defensive rookies of the year. I guessed one of the two when I was five years old, in 1972. They sent me two LeRoy Neiman posters. The only help I got from my parents was with the postage.

I was taking notes on football since I was four-and-a-half years old. I’d write-up scouting reports in my notebook and my mother would look at them and wonder what they were. Later on I got a job at the Answer Newspaper covering local sports. But I’d put in my predictions for college football games and the draft.  It was very different then than it is today. Draftniks was a new term – there weren’t many draftniks then. My hero was the late great Joel Buchsbaum. He had a show on KMOX in St. Louis with a young Bob Costas then and talked about the draft. Mel Kiper is a guy everyone knows but he just timed it right. But he can’t hold a candle to what Joel did. not to be disrespectful. Joel was like a savant. He knew something about every player in the world it seems.

Continue reading “Exclusive with draft expert Bill Carroll – National Gridiron Network Special Contributor”

It’s 6:00 on a Sunday night and I’m tired, but not stressed. This is the first week in more than four months that the I wasn’t worried about, upset about or happy about a Steelers game. So, what’s a guy to do on the first Sunday of the end of the 2018-2019 season? Watch the playoffs? Eh. My whole life is different now.

This change in life usually happens a little later in January or even February, but this year did not end with the result we wanted. So, my wife and I went hiking. My 16 year old and I went driving…new driver’s permit. Watch out. We visited my parents. Holy shnikies is this what life is like without Steeler football?

Continue reading “VIntage Steelers: It’s 6:00 on a Sunday night and I’m tired, but not stressed”