On February 29, 2008 Alan Faneca effectively killed the offensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is being charged with murder and treason and has relocated somewhere in the New York area. The death has saddened the entire Steelers organization and hundreds of thousands of Steelers fans. Signs of displeasure presented by Faneca toward the organization because he wanted mo' money is the most likely the motive for this heinous crime. It is also reported from an anonymous source that he was bribed somewhere along the lines of $40 million over 5 years for his participation. A potential revival of the offensive line is scheduled for April 26-27 of 2008 as such reconstruction could take some time. Additional efforts could be made before then but is seen as unlikely as the Browns having two straight seasons with a winning record. Efforts will extend much later than the scheduled revival and results will be seen pending the conclusion of the 2008 season. The O-Line is survived by Center Sean Mahan, Guards Kendall Simmons and Chris Kemoeatu, and Tackles Marvel Smith, Willie Colon, Max Starks and Trai Essex.
I really don't think so.While still a good player, he made the pro bowl more for his run blocking and rep versus his pass blocking and recent play.
I think the Steeler line will improve from last year through the draft and maybe a free agent pick up or waiver wire find.
I thank Alan for his time in Pittsburgh however, what the Jets paid him is to much for a 31 year old on the down side of his career.
I believe the Steelers will continue to spread their money out and address multiple needs. So far this philosophy has kept the Steelers competitive for a while.
I have to agree sixfigurefan I am a die-hard Steelers fan. Although I do not believe that, while yes his departure is not good, it is also not worst case scenario. As we have seen before with the Steelers in free agency, the loss of Big Red could be worse if he was at the top of his game which do not believe is the case, he is slipping. In my opinion both sides win the Steelers allow a player starting a downward spiral his wish, and Faneca gets the contract he thinks he deserves a win win situation for both sides in my opinion.
Ok, I am the ultimate Steeler fan...I do hate to see Faneca go, but hey, business is business for some of these guys. He no longer cared about being a football player, he wanted what most of them want M-O-N-E-Y!!! You all know that once you leave us(Steelers), you very seldom hear about them anymore...bring on a young player who is willing to play because he wants to win!!!
I'M WITH YA STINK69! Nice post, but....... If you think Faneca was great this year, think again. He's still good, but I think fell off some this year as he didn't have a Center worth his salt alongside him. Still a damn fine pulling Guard, but as you guys know, you need the ENTIRE package to be successful. Bet you won't see much from him with the Jets, that's why he went for the guaranteed money.
By the way, it is a business cause the deep pocket owners have made it so; buying and bidding huge amounts of money to satisfy their egos for a winner. But.....didn't work for Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones or Snyder. Although it worked for a time with Kraft this year; now I hear Moss is all but gone and Samuel left.
I harp on this all the time; why can't the owners stop offering big money? We have police, military making nothing, while sports figure are making outrageous money for playing games of entertainment; hell they have it better than politicians, at least until their playing days are over. Cut back rather than giving more and more! Ah well, I know I'm barking at the moon. Fuzz
Great post STINK69, I can get you three pages of ex Steelers that when the organization let them go fans thought it was the end of the world. Not the case at all. The Rooneys(thank god) dont over pay for washed up talent. Someone will step up for sure. Fanecant went for one last payday, good for him, but he left behind winning,just like most athletes do. Its about the almighty dollar... Who thought Fanecant would turn into that, didnt hear him complain when the Burgh made him the highest paid guard back when he was worth it. Go fade away in the green uni's, good ridence....
I really don't think it's the end of the world, or the end of Steeler hopes for a good offensive line, I was merely exaggerating just to exaggerate, although I do believe that it won't get much better next year, it may take some time. Losing Faneca is a huge loss, but our offensive line sucked towards the 2nd half of last year and with the best piece gone it's going to take a huge effort from everyone else to bring it back up to par. Yeah, he wasn't as good as in previous years but he was as consistent as it got. However, I always do have extreme faith in our Steelers that they can persevere. It also upsets me greatly to see athletes demand so much money as was pointed out brilliantly by fuzz. What needs to happen is that they get every owner together and decide to stop paying ridiculous amounts of money and the players will come around because they will want to get paid. If they don't agree to the pay cuts then they just won't play and that's how it should be. There is no reason people playing a game should get paid more than people saving lives.
Capn26! Did I mention that you wrote a good post? If not, here it is: GOOD POST!
As was said before, Steelers will rebound. I think what hurt them this year was the loss of their Center (and damn if I can remember hisa name) which really caused a ripple effect as cohesion was lost on the line and the coaches couldn't find a combo that worked. Plus, don't you think that Faneca's displeasure also had an effect? Course then, there is Mahan's usual bad play.
They also need to give Ben lessons in releasing the ball a litle sooner, doing his reads quicker. He relies too much on his physical abilities, this year it hurt him. Fuzz
Haha, thanks fuzz and his name is Jeff Hartings. I only remember because I still Madden 'O7, lol. And yes, losing him cost us a lot. And also with Ben was he tried too much to be a playmaker in agreeing with how you said he needs to release quicker. It either worked extremely well or went horribly wrong. And I do believe his displeasure caused some problems because their is no way you can be as upset as he was and just ignore game after game. After much thought, we're probably better off without him becasue odds are he wouldn't have played to his potential because there was no way Rooney was going to pay him enough to keep his greedy arse happy.
Um, let's see...I'm an 18 year young die-hard Steelers fan for the past 6 years or so and also watch the Atlanta Braves on a regular basis. I aspire to one day to be involved in professional sports most likely commentating or being a sports writer. I try not to be biased in anything I write about, just general things that interest me. I really don't know what else to put here at this time, so until then....
