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Would you like to own the Reebok Pro Fade Grip gloves that Six-Burgh Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes wore when he caught the Super Bowl XLIII game-winning touchdown pass? Reebok is auctioning them (the highest bid at the time of this post is $7,400) or you can simply buy them for a cool million dollars. Santonio put his signature on the left palm. The “Immaculate Extension” auction (as Reebok is calling it) ends February 15. All proceeds go to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.

Source: Reebok International, Photo: courtesy Reebok

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Reebok ‘Immaculate Extension’ Auction, Santonio Holmes SBXLIII Gloves For Sale

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The Pittsburgh Steelers celebrated their Super Bowl XLIII win with a parade through downtown “Six-Burgh” today (renamed by Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl). Over 300,000 fans lined the streets. That’s about the population of the city itself. In this photo, SBXLIII MVP Santonio Holmes is hoisting both the Lombardi and MVP trophies. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Source: Yahoo! Sports, Photo: Newscom

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Six-Burgh Celebrates Steelers Win

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For two weeks of Super Bowl XLIII hype, Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes was overshadowed by Arizona Cardinals receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. But in the end, it was Santonio who had the best game. And the MVP award to go with it. Santonio made nine catches for 131 yards and one incredible touchdown. He made several huge grabs on the winning drive. I’ve seen some unbelievable receptions, but under the circumstances, his final catch was one of the most amazing I’ve ever seen. Completely outstretched at the farthest possible corner of the end zone, Santonio somehow not only made the catch, he also kept his feet in-bounds and held onto the ball to give the Steelers a 27-23 lead with :35 to play. As it turned out, it was all they would need. After the game Santonio said:

“I dared the team. Just give me the ball, give me the chance to make plays and I will do it for you ….. This is a wonderful blessing. I would like to thank the Lord for helping me overcome all the things I overcame, the coaches for sticking with me, the organization for being behind me and believing in me, and my quarterback for giving me this opportunity to make plays for him all season.”

I wasn’t sure what path Santonio was headed down in life. He’s been in and out of trouble. He was suspended by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin for one game earlier this season. He even admitted this week to selling drugs as a youngster growing up in Florida. But it appears he has turned his life and football career around. And in one night, the whole world knows about it.

Source: NFL.com, Photo: Newscom

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Santonio Holmes: Super Bowl XLIII MVP

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The Steelers practiced sans pads for about two hours at the University of South Florida this afternoon. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Willie Parker looked sharp. Ben threw several long, tight spirals, including one bullet to receiver Santonio Holmes through the wind. And Willie ran fast and confidently. Head coach Mike Tomlin was pleased but not satisfied:

“It was a good start to our week. We practiced fast, and I thought we practiced aggressively. But it’s like I say to the team after every Wednesday practice: It’s a good start, but we’ve got to be better tomorrow.”

As for hobbled receiver Hines Ward — the only Steelers player on today’s injury report — he walked through some plays with the first-team offense just before practice began at 1:30. Then, at the start of practice, he jogged through a few pass-routes with the regular offense before working out on his own for the next 55 minutes. Hines caught balls from a Juggs machine. Then four cones were laid out in a 10-yard square and he ran 10-yard-incut pass-routes at about half-speed and caught passes. Then he ran sideline-to-sideline at slightly better than half-speed before icing his knee for about 30 minutes. From the looks of how he ran today, Hines won’t be 100 percent Sunday, but there’s little doubt he’ll be in the starting lineup.

Thanks to fellow PFWA member Peter King for today’s pool report.

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Steelers Wednesday Practice Report

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I love the idea of instant replay in the National Football League. It exists, quite simply, to get the call right. And most of the time, I think it does. In a crucial AFC North game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens (to essentially decide the division) this afternoon, however, instant replay came into play near the end of the game and the final decision is causing quite a bit of controversy.

On third-and-goal from the Ravens four-yard-line, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s pass to receiver Santonio Holmes was ruled down at the one or two inch line. Santonio was in the endzone (at least most of him was), but the catch was made — seemingly — just outside the end zone. Everyone knows (or should know) the ball needs to break the plane of the goal line to be a touchdown, so it looked like 4th down for Pittsburgh. Referee Walt Coleman went to review the play and according to the rules, he would need indisputable visual evidence that the ball was caught in the endzone to overturn the call. Apparently, this is what he felt he saw because he overturned the initial call on the field and awarded the Steelers a touchdown, which gave them the lead and eventually the 13-9 win.

There are a couple things to consider here. The rules state that a touchdown occurs “when any part of the ball, legally in possession of a player inbounds, breaks the plane of the opponent’s goal line, provided it is not a touchback.” The rules are very clear on that. So, the ruling on the field seemed to be the correct call. After watching the replay a number of times, however, I feel it was a touchdown by the slimmest of margins. And there is no way an official could pick that up in real time. After looking at the replay, the ball appeared to be caught at the very outer edge of the goal line for just a split second. So, when referee Walt Coleman went “under the hood” to review the play himself, he saw what he considered to be indisputable visual evidence. Or did he? I’m not sure Walt knew what the rule was because his announcement went like this: “After reviewing the play, the receiver had two feet down in the end zone with possession of the ball, we have a touchdown.” That was an incorrect announcement of the ruling. If he actually decided the replay based on that incorrect interpretation of the rules, the Ravens really got cheated. If he just announced it incorrectly, that’s another matter. But even if he did look at the ball rather than Santonio’s feet, I’m not sure that is what I would call indisputable visual evidence because it was most definitely disputable. It will be interesting to hear the explanation tomorrow.

Source: NFL.com

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Controversy Ends Steelers-Ravens Game

Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes apologized today for being involved in a marijuana-related case that caused Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to deactivate him for yesterday’s loss to the New York Giants. Santonio issued the following statement today:

“I would like to apologize to my teammates, the Steelers organization, my family and the fans for my actions that caused me to miss Sunday’s game. I recognize that I made a mistake and understand the significance of my actions, and will not make any excuses for my behavior. I look forward to putting this behind me and to being accepted by my teammates and the fans as part of this team. At this time, I plan to focus all of my efforts on helping our team win on the field and achieve its ultimate goal, and will not address this situation publicly in the future.

That’s nice. But Santonio has a history of unruly behavior. In June 2006, he was charged with domestic violence in Columbus, OH. The charges were dropped when the mother of one of his three children decided not to prosecute the case. Apparently, Santonio received anger management and domestic violence counseling through the NFL. A month before that, he was arrested for disorderly conduct by police in Miami, who also later dropped the charges. I guess he has his angst under control. Now he’s driving around smoking pot. The Steelers obviously missed Santonio in the lineup against the Giants yesterday. And I want to say the team really needs him back for next Monday night’s game against Washington. But this type of behavior isn’t helping anyone’s cause and I’m not so sure the Steelers wouldn’t be better off without him. He’s a tremendously talented player but trouble seems to follow.

Source: Steelers.com

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Santonio Holmes Apologizes

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Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes wants to returns punts this season. After averaging 10.2 yards on 26 returns as a rookie — including a 65-yard TD against Carolina — Santonio didn’t field any punts last season. And that’s something he wants to change this fall:

“The more involved I can get in the offense and touching the ball early in the game — whether it’s fair-catching or getting the ball six, seven yards on a punt return — the better I think I’ll play throughout the whole game. Any guy that you can consider a playmaker wants to touch the ball eight to 10 times a game.”

When you look at how Santonio has fared compared to other Steelers returners over the past 10 seasons, he has a case. Only Hank Poteat, Antwaan Randle El and Courtney Hawkins have fared slightly better on average. The Steelers don’t want to risk injury to their #2 receiver, but it might be the chance they need to take for big plays from their special teams.

Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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Santonio Holmes Wants to Return Punts