Reason why Pitt let Burress walk...

[WoodysGirl]

Thought this was interesting, since there were some who wanted him here and he signed with the Giants.
----------

Pittsburgh Steelers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=pit)
Best move: It's a case of addition by subtraction. Pittsburgh's best move of the offseason was allowing Burress to depart. The Steelers made no effort to re-sign their first-round pick in 2000, a decision that had everything to do with their first-round pick last year, Roethlisberger, and what they feel is best for his development. Roethlisberger and Burress enjoyed a close relationship – too close if you ask the Steelers.

They viewed Burress as a negative influence. There was a reason why Burress saw his production increase when Roethlisberger stepped in for Tommy Maddox (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=2018) in Game 2, only the team didn't catch on until late in the year: Roethlisberger and Burress had devised plays for the QB's favorite receiver, though he almost never was the primary one, and would adjust his routes as they saw fit and not according to the playbook. While their little scheme wasn't exactly broken (they made the AFC Championship Game in spite of the unauthorized ad-libbing) the Steelers, however, were intent on fixing the situation after the season. It didn't help that Burress dropped a lot of balls.

Exit Burress, enter Cedrick Wilson (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5617), signed as a free agent. The former 49er, expected to start opposite Hines Ward (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4323), gives Pittsburgh's offense the downfield speed it lacked. Pittsburgh's next move: extending Ward, who is entering the last year of his contract. He's approaching 30, so the Steelers are mindful of overpaying him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=2068940&num=0

[lkelly]

I'm not sure I completely agree with this article. The QB-WR relationship better be one of the strongest ones on your team. The two often have to improvise and they absolutely have to be on the same page. Now when that page isn't the same as the rest of the WRs and coaches - I'm not sure how deep the impact is. If the Steelers think bringing in someone who is not familiar with the QB and doesn't develop a tight relationship means improved production, then color me skeptical. It sounds like the WR coach didn't do a good job of communicating with Burress and keeping the offensive coordinator in the loop.

I think the Steelers let Burress go because they didn't want to pay him a ton of money. Plus, he's a bizarre dude off the field.

[Falcon]

So they dealt with Buress, what about Roethlisberger? He is the flavor of the month and all, but this kind of scheming is unacceptable.

[WoodysGirl]

I'm not sure I completely agree with this article. The QB-WR relationship better be one of the strongest ones on your team. The two often have to improvise and they absolutely have to be on the same page. Now when that page isn't the same as the rest of the WRs and coaches - I'm not sure how deep the impact is. If the Steelers think bringing in someone who is not familiar with the QB and doesn't develop a tight relationship means improved production, then color me skeptical. It sounds like the WR coach didn't do a good job of communicating with Burress and keeping the offensive coordinator in the loop.

I think the Steelers let Burress go because they didn't want to pay him a ton of money. Plus, he's a bizarre dude off the field.It's one thing to be on the same page and another to devise plays outside of the playbook. I think that's what the article is insinuating. And that that kind of behavior would end up hurting Ben R. in the long run.

[Everlastingxxx]

Interesting story. Seems there is a lot more to why they let him walk although. Me personally, i wish players had more to do with the play calling.

[Hoov]

I'll have to send that to my brother, big steelers fan. i was wondering why burress was getting more TD's. Those bastids, Ward was my #1 fantasy wr last year.

And announcers were going on about how roethlisberger was so impressive while scrambling, and burress was good about coming back to his QB, like the two were on the same page or something. They were, LOL.

Wonder if Big Bens play takes a step back this year.

[Charles]

Thought this was interesting, since there were some who wanted him here and he signed with the Giants.
----------

Pittsburgh Steelers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=pit)
Best move: It's a case of addition by subtraction. Pittsburgh's best move of the offseason was allowing Burress to depart. The Steelers made no effort to re-sign their first-round pick in 2000, a decision that had everything to do with their first-round pick last year, Roethlisberger, and what they feel is best for his development. Roethlisberger and Burress enjoyed a close relationship – too close if you ask the Steelers.

They viewed Burress as a negative influence. There was a reason why Burress saw his production increase when Roethlisberger stepped in for Tommy Maddox (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=2018) in Game 2, only the team didn't catch on until late in the year: Roethlisberger and Burress had devised plays for the QB's favorite receiver, though he almost never was the primary one, and would adjust his routes as they saw fit and not according to the playbook. While their little scheme wasn't exactly broken (they made the AFC Championship Game in spite of the unauthorized ad-libbing) the Steelers, however, were intent on fixing the situation after the season. It didn't help that Burress dropped a lot of balls.

Exit Burress, enter Cedrick Wilson (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5617), signed as a free agent. The former 49er, expected to start opposite Hines Ward (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4323), gives Pittsburgh's offense the downfield speed it lacked. Pittsburgh's next move: extending Ward, who is entering the last year of his contract. He's approaching 30, so the Steelers are mindful of overpaying him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=2068940&num=0
While I don't think Burress has reached the elite level Irvin attained, I wonder how most Cowboy fans would have reacted if Irvin was cut or not resigned due to his off the field problems. I think its common knowledge that Troy has always had Irvin's back. He was one of the feww players to show up in court when Irvin arrived in a mink coat and sunglasses. Troy has even stated he let Irvin baby sit his children.

I think sometimes chemistry can't entirely be put down in playbook.

[Danny White]

Roethlisberger and Burress enjoyed a close relationship – too close if you ask the Steelers.
Are they suggesting what it seems like they're suggesting? NTTAWWT

[Everlastingxxx]

... like the two were on the same page or something. They were,

And this is a bad thing? I really believe coaches have such huge egos, they don't let their players play the game. I'll take Glenn and Bledsoe making up their own plays if it gets us one game from the Super Bowl.

[ABQCOWBOY]

While I don't think Burress has reached the elite level Irvin attained, I wonder how most Cowboy fans would have reacted if Irvin was cut or not resigned due to his off the field problems. I think its common knowledge that Troy has always had Irvin's back. He was one of the feww players to show up in court when Irvin arrived in a mink coat and sunglasses. Troy has even stated he let Irvin baby sit his children.

I think sometimes chemistry can't entirely be put down in playbook.

If Irvin played like Burress, then probably not much. If Burress had played like Irvin, he would likely still be on the team.

[TheSkaven]

I can't see Cedrick Wilson starting in Pittsburgh. They have Antwaan Randel El, he'll be the #2 receiver this year (nice fantasy sleeper too).

[pancakeman]

So they dealt with Buress, what about Roethlisberger? He is the flavor of the month and all, but this kind of scheming is unacceptable.

Agreed. He's the QB! Once they notice this, they tell him to stop. If he doesn't, then the problem isn't going to go away just by removing his partner in crime.

:banghead:

[WoodysGirl]

I'll have to send that to my brother, big steelers fan. i was wondering why burress was getting more TD's. Those bastids, Ward was my #1 fantasy wr last year.

And announcers were going on about how roethlisberger was so impressive while scrambling, and burress was good about coming back to his QB, like the two were on the same page or something. They were, LOL.

Wonder if Big Bens play takes a step back this year.Don't anticipate that happening. According to the rest of the article, it says Ben has a better grasp of the offense after being exposed by the Pats last year. It said he basically got by purely on athletic ability and that he should even better next year.

That link previews the whole AFC North. It did a Best Move, Worst Move, etc..

Anyway, the issue that people are missing is that that's the kinda stuff that got AB run out of here, except he was doing it with the knowledge of the QB. BP got rid of AB and Quincy for varying reasons, but at the core of it was trust. He couldn't trust AB to run the right routes and couldn't trust Q to run the offense properly, in addition to simply having a clear mind.

Ben gets sort of a pass in this case, cuz he was a rookie trying to please a vet. But only to a point. Burress knew he was going into FA, so he's trying to pad his stats.

Either way, it's wrong. You gotta run the play that's called. You can't be scripting stuff outside the offense.

[silverbear]

It's one thing to be on the same page and another to devise plays outside of the playbook. I think that's what the article is insinuating. And that that kind of behavior would end up hurting Ben R. in the long run.

This makes no sense, how could the coaches not know that Burress wasn't running the patterns the play called for??

[Hoov]

And this is a bad thing? I really believe coaches have such huge egos, they don't let their players play the game. I'll take Glenn and Bledsoe making up their own plays if it gets us one game from the Super Bowl.

Well i found it humorus, thats all. Yes i think there should be a link between QB and WR, i think a WR should be able to walk up to the line, see the D and look back at QB with a nod or something and QB will know that WR is already going to be open and to look his way.

But a QB cant be too locked in on one player, and you cant be changing plays around or scripting things that the rest of the team is not aware of. thats sandlot football, it works sometimes and burress had some breakout games, but look what happened in playoffs. Roethlisberger was awful against the patriots, and the steelers never should have beat the jets either. Burress was his security blanket, a Def takes that away and he fell apart.

Besides didnt you see my point about Ward being my fantsy wr :D

[WoodysGirl]

This makes no sense, how could the coaches not know that Burress wasn't running the patterns the play called for??I can't imagine the coaches not knowing. Tthe question is when the did they realize and did they do anything about it once they knew. It was working for the most part, at least, until the AFC championship.

[Hoov]

While I don't think Burress has reached the elite level Irvin attained, I wonder how most Cowboy fans would have reacted if Irvin was cut or not resigned due to his off the field problems. I think its common knowledge that Troy has always had Irvin's back. He was one of the feww players to show up in court when Irvin arrived in a mink coat and sunglasses. Troy has even stated he let Irvin baby sit his children.

I think sometimes chemistry can't entirely be put down in playbook.

Off field problems occuring in the offseason not the same as a player not carrying out or propperly executing the playbook.

[BrAinPaiNt]

This makes no sense, how could the coaches not know that Burress wasn't running the patterns the play called for??


From what I have gathered it looks as if they would do some plays where Ben would scramble (they designed it that way but looked to coaches like he was just avoiding the rush) and then Burress would know this was going to happen and do a come back route.

Now if you think it was just pressure, or a rook saying he felt pressure, even if it wasn't there, I could see how they could do that.

But I just don't think that was done enough for them not to notice, maybe a few times but who knows.

I think it is more like someone else said, they did not like the character and off the field whining of Burress and they did not want to pay him the big money they know he wanted but instead wanted that money to go to the better WR and leader in Hines Ward.

[CATCH17]

The Steelers got mad because Buress's production increased? What a bunch of idiots.

[Everlastingxxx]

Roethlisberger was awful against the patriots, and the steelers never should have beat the jets either. Burress was his security blanket, a Def takes that away and he fell apart.

Besides didnt you see my point about Ward being my fantsy wr :D

The almighty fantasy player, haha. I didn't play last season but my first season my team won it all, not tryin to brag. ;)
Players making up their own plays brings back my childhood days (too long ago!) playing football in the street. Wonder how Manning will react when Burress pulls out his secret playbook?

[Hollywood Henderson]

I talked to 2 Steeler's scouts at the NFL Combine here in Indy and they said it was more not wanting to pay big bucks to him as well as too many dropped balls AND wanting to give Randle-El more chances...

Myself, I think they will miss that big target!

[Hoov]

The almighty fantasy player, haha. I didn't play last season but my first season my team won it all, not tryin to brag. ;)
Players making up their own plays brings back my childhood days (too long ago!) playing football in the street. Wonder how Manning will react when Burress pulls out his secret playbook?

Last year i came in second in our league. I had priest holmes and didnt snag his backup (Dolt !!) I did draft witten and JJones in the late rounds though, and traded S Davis for T Holt right before Davis got hurt.

I know what you mean about the old days, me and this one guy were always on same team. He was QB and i was receiver. we had all kinds of codes and when i walked up to the line depending on how they played me we'd say or do something. always worked too. We had this one fav play, always good for a 1st down or more. if the guy covering me played off a few yards it was "money". Sometimes id walk up to the line and look at him and he'd get this look when he'd want me to run that fav play and the field would be wide open for it and id just start laughing so hard i could hardly run the route. yeah, those were good days.

[Everlastingxxx]

Last year i came in second in our league. I had priest holmes and didnt snag his backup (Dolt !!) I did draft witten and JJones in the late rounds though, and traded S Davis for T Holt right before Davis got hurt.

I know what you mean about the old days, me and this one guy were always on same team. He was QB and i was receiver. we had all kinds of codes and when i walked up to the line depending on how they played me we'd say or do something. always worked too. We had this one fav play, always good for a 1st down or more. if the guy covering me played off a few yards it was "money". Sometimes id walk up to the line and look at him and he'd get this look when he'd want me to run that fav play and the field would be wide open for it and id just start laughing so hard i could hardly run the route. yeah, those were good days.

Heck yea. Playing in bad conditions made it better. It actually snowed here in victoria this past winter and we played some football, it was a blast. Didn't realize how hard it is to play in snow.
My favorite play was a short curl pump fake then go deep, always worked. My gf asked me the other day if i could be anything else in my life what would i be. I told her i'd be a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. She laughed. :rolleyes:

[Alexander]

Roethlisberger and Burress had devised plays for the QB's favorite receiver, though he almost never was the primary one, and would adjust his routes as they saw fit and not according to the playbook

Isn't this what Quincy Carter and Antonio Bryant were accused of doing in 2002?

[Tenkamenin]

I can't see Cedrick Wilson starting in Pittsburgh. They have Antwaan Randel El, he'll be the #2 receiver this year (nice fantasy sleeper too).

I've seen Cedric Wilson play for the 49ers, the guy young and talented. He played pretty well for the 9ers, and he's only going to get better. I think he'll start and do a fine job, I heard he was a hard worker.

[joseephuss]

They viewed Burress as a negative influence. There was a reason why Burress saw his production increase when Roethlisberger stepped in for Tommy Maddox in Game 2, only the team didn't catch on until late in the year: Roethlisberger and Burress had devised plays for the QB's favorite receiver, though he almost never was the primary one, and would adjust his routes as they saw fit and not according to the playbook.

I thought it was interesting that they were able to see a difference in Burress' production based on just one game with Maddox. One game isn't enough to set a trend. Burress had 1 catch in game 1, 2 in game 2 and 2 in game 3. What a big jump.

[speedkilz88]

Cedrick Wilson isn't a starting material wr. Maybe a decent #3, but thats it.

[ravidubey]

Best move: It's a case of addition by subtraction. Pittsburgh
Exit Burress, enter Cedrick Wilson (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5617), signed as a free agent. The former 49er, expected to start opposite Hines Ward (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4323), gives Pittsburgh's offense the downfield speed it lacked.


No reflection on you WG at all, but for this article to call replacing Plaxico Burress with Cedrick Wilson a "Best move" is, to be blunt, idiotic, self-serving, mindless, and stupid! This is rationalizing at it's very best-- a way for an organization to justify going cheap on someone they think needed a comeuppance. This is the media wanting to hurt someone because they can, knowing certain segment of fans will devour this kind of stuff.

Someone should make up a term for this "character police attitude" the media and many fans seem to be adopting-- it's probably spawned from some kind of jealous backlash against the free-spirited recklessness of these young, rich, professional athletes who have little care in the whole world except to be really good at football.

It's as if Plaxico Burress is a curse because he's really talented and that clashes with the conservative Pittsburgh offense. There can be no tolerance for a player who behind the scenes, not publicly, demands more even if it clashes with a blue collar coach? No, every team should be jammed full of "character guys" with average talent who play like a team so everyone can be the New England Patriots (oh yeah, did we mention it's a cheaper approach?). Yeesh.

Have we as Cowboys fans forgotten what it was like to have any swagger or pride at all? Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Big E, Larry, Primetime, Lett-- these guys had serious talent, worked hard at making it better and executing to perfection, and were damned proud of it!

Burress did nothing wrong but demand to help his football team and occasionally (golly gee willickers) catch a pass thrown beyond 10 freaking yards in the air! Instead he gets admonished by the "character police" which is really nothing more than a sad excuse to lower his asking price to something the team could afford.

And how did the classy character-police in the Steeler organization do this? By saying anything directly to Plaxico's face or even to his agent? NO, that would take real character-- instead the Steelers spread their opinions through back-handed leaks to mediots like this one who just eat this crap right up.

You're telling me the Steelers-- who analyze and scrutinize game films over and over obsessively during the season finally "caught on" so late in the year that they decided it was better to wait until after the free agency signing period to bother to tell the media? Was this to imply that the Steelers plays were never intended for Burress and the only reason his production "magically" went up was because the rookie QB and this one bad seed (and oh BTW expensive) WR went behind everyone's back and redrew the plays which they never practiced but executed to perfection in games?!? What kind of sheer lunatic BS are they trying to pull?

I think the media needs to get a clue and the character police ought to arrest themselves.

[Everlastingxxx]

:clap2:

[WoodysGirl]

No reflection on you WG at all, but for this article to call replacing Plaxico Burress with Cedrick Wilson a "Best move" is, to be blunt, idiotic, self-serving, mindless, and stupid! This is rationalizing at it's very best-- a way for an organization to justify going cheap on someone they think needed a comeuppance. This is the media wanting to hurt someone because they can, knowing certain segment of fans will devour this kind of stuff.

Someone should make up a term for this "character police attitude" the media and many fans seem to be adopting-- it's probably spawned from some kind of jealous backlash against the free-spirited recklessness of these young, rich, professional athletes who have little care in the whole world except to be really good at football.

It's as if Plaxico Burress is a curse because he's really talented and that clashes with the conservative Pittsburgh offense. There can be no tolerance for a player who behind the scenes, not publicly, demands more even if it clashes with a blue collar coach? No, every team should be jammed full of "character guys" with average talent who play like a team so everyone can be the New England Patriots (oh yeah, did we mention it's a cheaper approach?). Yeesh.

Have we as Cowboys fans forgotten what it was like to have any swagger or pride at all? Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Big E, Larry, Primetime, Lett-- these guys had serious talent, worked hard at making it better and executing to perfection, and were damned proud of it!

Burress did nothing wrong but demand to help his football team and occasionally (golly gee willickers) catch a pass thrown beyond 10 freaking yards in the air! Instead he gets admonished by the "character police" which is really nothing more than a sad excuse to lower his asking price to something the team could afford.

And how did the classy character-police in the Steeler organization do this? By saying anything directly to Plaxico's face or even to his agent? NO, that would take real character-- instead the Steelers spread their opinions through back-handed leaks to mediots like this one who just eat this crap right up.

You're telling me the Steelers-- who analyze and scrutinize game films over and over obsessively during the season finally "caught on" so late in the year that they decided it was better to wait until after the free agency signing period to bother to tell the media? Was this to imply that the Steelers plays were never intended for Burress and the only reason his production "magically" went up was because the rookie QB and this one bad seed (and oh BTW expensive) WR went behind everyone's back and redrew the plays which they never practiced but executed to perfection in games?!? What kind of sheer lunatic BS are they trying to pull?

I think the media needs to get a clue and the character police ought to arrest themselves.I don't think it's a reflection on me, at all. I only posted the portion that I thought people might be curious about. Espn.com is doing an offseason overview of each division and today's covered the AFC North.

I think you're post made some very valid points.

[MissionCoach]

I thought one of the reasons that Burress was last go was because pitt had to dummy down the play book for him. Pretty sure I read that somewhere. Anyway, I wonder if old rothlisburger (whatever his name is) will suffer from sophomore slump next year. He sure didn't look too good in that last playoff game against the patsies.

[joe_cowboy]

Isn't that what Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison do? Have eye contact and run a different play depending upon the D.

[ravidubey]

Isn't that what Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison do? Have eye contact and run a different play depending upon the D.

Seriously! It's called "offense", something that happens after praticing a lot and calling a mix of plays when your team has the ball! GOD forbid the production of a WR who was a top ten pick should actually increase!

[Nightshade]

Seriously! It's called "offense", something that happens after praticing a lot and calling a mix of plays when your team has the ball! GOD forbid the production of a WR who was a top ten pick should actually increase!

Aikman and Irvin used to do the same thing. If the defense was setup for it, they would scrap the called play with a glance at each other and run a slant pattern that was always money.

If the article is true, then Plax and the Burger's freelancing helped the team get to the Championship game. The big burger always had an outlet he could depend on. That's gotta give your confidence a boost. Look at Peyton Manning, calling his own plays helps him tremendously.

I would love it for the players to have more influence in playcalling again.
ie "The Great John Unitas"

In fact keep an eye on Alex Smith. The smart QB was picked over the athletic one this year. He'll be throwing out a few audibles before too long.

[tyke1doe]

I think many posters are missing the point. Big Ben and Burress aren't Manning and Harrison or Aikman and Irvin.

Ben was a rookie quarterback, who had much to learn. Burress was an underachieving wide receiver who had a questionable attitude.

The Cowboys duo and the Colts duo are hard working, veterans who have mastered their playbooks and had/have earned the right to improvise.

It's not necessarily the improvisation that's wrong. It's the timing. And maybe the Steelers felt that Burress had to learn how to run his routes first and Big Ben had to learn how to be a quarterback who mastered the system first.

And for all the talk about the Steelers' success, fans don't always know when a wide receiver runs the wrong route or is out of position and causes a negative play or an interception. The coaches would know, but not necessarily the fans.

[Nightshade]

I think many posters are missing the point. Big Ben and Burress aren't Manning and Harrison or Aikman and Irvin.

Ben was a rookie quarterback, who had much to learn. Burress was an underachieving wide receiver who had a questionable attitude.

The Cowboys duo and the Colts duo are hard working, veterans who have mastered their playbooks and had/have earned the right to improvise.

It's not necessarily the improvisation that's wrong. It's the timing. And maybe the Steelers felt that Burress had to learn how to run his routes first and Big Ben had to learn how to be a quarterback who mastered the system first.

And for all the talk about the Steelers' success, fans don't always know when a wide receiver runs the wrong route or is out of position and causes a negative play or an interception. The coaches would know, but not necessarily the fans.

I agree with your points, experience should be a prerequisite to improvisation. My point is that players often see things that coaches can miss on the sidelines. It seems to me if the things Burress and Ben and Quincy and AB were doing were resulting in positive plays, then the coaching environment should be such that the players shouldn't have to hide their discoveries and contributions.

[DeepBleu]

if buress and rothelisberger can design their own plays and take the team to the conference final, then were we seeing the making of some offensive genius?

[Chief]

I think many posters are missing the point. Big Ben and Burress aren't Manning and Harrison or Aikman and Irvin.

Ben was a rookie quarterback, who had much to learn. Burress was an underachieving wide receiver who had a questionable attitude.

The Cowboys duo and the Colts duo are hard working, veterans who have mastered their playbooks and had/have earned the right to improvise.

It's not necessarily the improvisation that's wrong. It's the timing. And maybe the Steelers felt that Burress had to learn how to run his routes first and Big Ben had to learn how to be a quarterback who mastered the system first.

And for all the talk about the Steelers' success, fans don't always know when a wide receiver runs the wrong route or is out of position and causes a negative play or an interception. The coaches would know, but not necessarily the fans.


Good post.