Pittsburgh Steelers

News/views: LeBeau, Steelers have ‘mutual parting’

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Pittsburgh Steelers v Tennessee Titans

Dick LeBeau calls signals on the Steelers’ sideline during a Nov. 17 game this season in Nashville. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

News: Dick LeBeau has left the Steelers, according to the Urbana Daily Citizen in his native Ohio. He told the paper, “I’m resigning my position, not retiring,” and called it “a mutual parting.”

Views: So much for status quo this offseason.

LeBeau, 77, is nothing less than a legend with the Steelers’ franchise, not least of which was for presiding over two Super Bowl champions and dominating, innovative defenses. And he never should be the focus of singular blame for how far that defense fell the past three years. That had far more to do with a crumbling secondary and, preceding that, a lack of emphasis on the secondary in recent draft. The man had a tremendous run.

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Podcast: Rapid fire w/ Henson on 970 ESPN

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BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Here’s the podcast of my weekly rapid-fire segment on 970 ESPN, this time with guest host Gregg Henson filling in for David Todd. We talked Craig Adams, Jerome Bettis, Baseball Hall and more.

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Friday Insider: Pirates’ front office transformed

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Cincinnati Reds v Pittsburgh Pirates

Bob Nutting and Clint Hurdle speak in the PNC Park home dugout before a September game. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Weekly roundup of a lot of randomness from a lot of time around our city’s teams …

fridayinsider• Spring training is still several weeks away, but the Pirates will convene next week in Bradenton for minicamp, and not just the players who report voluntarily. It’ll also be a gathering for the front office, managers, coaches, scouts, pretty much everyone in baseball operations all under one roof, a great rarity in an increasingly global game.

And man, will this be one giddy gathering, by all accounts.

I spoke with a few of the folks who will be part of this, including some who only two winters ago were bitterly critical of the back-biting, divisiveness and divergent philosophies that were plaguing the operation. Some of that was the natural exhaust of a 20th consecutive losing season. Some of it was men fearing for their jobs and filling the lifeboats. And some of it, of course, was the infamous Hoka Hey escapade.

Well, forget it all, I’m assured.

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News/views: Mueller report exonerates NFL

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Ray Rice and Janay Palmer arrive at an Atlantic City court in May 2014. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

News: The NFL was all but completely exonerated in its handling of the Ray Rice case by a 96-page report just released by former FBI director Robert Mueller. The headline finding: “We found no evidence that anyone at the NFL had or saw the in-elevator video before it was publicly shown.”

Views: Oh, do at least try to act surprised.

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Interview: Jarvis Jones, Steelers

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BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Jarvis Jones, the Steelers’ first-round pick two summers ago, was limited to seven games and three starts by a wrist injury incurred in Week 3 at Carolina. He recorded two sacks and a forced fumble. Those numbers won’t floor anyone, obviously, but Jones nonetheless is hugely likely to be the starting outside linebacker in 2015 because of his pedigree and personnel issues as a whole.

Jones and I had this talk earlier this week as players and coaches had exit interviews.

Podcast: On set w/ Madden at Blue Line Grille

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BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Here’s the podcast of my weekly appearance on 105.9 the X with Mark Madden, this one at Blue Line Grille across from Consol Energy Center. Fast-forward to the 16:40 mark for the start of our segment. We talked Steelers, Penguins and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Morning Java: What now for football fans?

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BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

The unique sadness that is a Steelers playoff loss eventually gives way to … something, right?

Tuesday 12 Qs: Mitchell, LeBeau, Perron, Lambo

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One last time. Obviously. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 2 p.m. and tosses the keys to you to do the driving. I’ll be over at the Mike Tomlin press conference at noon but back in plenty of time for the session.

photo-150x150If you’re new, the format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live.

All topics welcome, as always, though I’m sure to lean mostly toward Steelers this week under the circumstance.

UPDATE 2 p.m.: And a sledding we will go …

Mitchell Shaw: DK, I know most people don’t have the luxury of watching the film of games the way the coaches do, but was there one thing from watching all season that you saw that would support Tomlin’s comments about Mike Mitchell’s arrow pointing up?

DK: No.

I actually could end that answer right there, but that wouldn’t be any fun, right?

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Column: Keep Worilds, keep building defense

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Kansas City Chiefs v Pittsburgh Steelers

Jason Worilds was held without a sack in Saturday’s playoff loss to the Ravens at Heinz Field. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

The Steelers folded up the chairs one final time at their South Side headquarters Monday afternoon, most fanning out across the country but many also sticking around Pittsburgh to take advantage of the facilities and prepare for Latrobe.

“Before you know it, it’ll be here,” Jarvis Jones was telling me in an otherwise mostly empty locker room. “Everything’s right here for me to get ready. I’m staying right here.”

Good for him.

“I’ll be here, too,” Shamarko Thomas chimed in from a nearby stall. “I’ll do some training out in California, too, outdoor stuff. But I’ll be here.”

It matters. Enough that Mike Tomlin was making the rounds asking everyone exactly that.

Here’s another guy sticking around. And if he has his way, it’ll be for years to come …

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Steelers PATs: Did Ben need to apologize?

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Wild Card Playoffs - Baltimore Ravens v Pittsburgh Steelers

Ben Roethlisberger walks off the field after his fourth-quarter interception Saturday night. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

One last look at the Steelers’ (for real) last game …

• Ben Roethlisberger apologized to pretty much everyone who’s ever known a 412 or 724 area code Saturday night, including “the fans, my teammates, the organization, the Rooneys and the coaches.” And his explanation for that was that he “didn’t play well enough to win.”

The latter is indisputable, obviously, as is any assessment that Ben wasn’t at his best.

But was he that bad?

Depends on how one would like to dole out the blame, I suppose.

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