THE STEELERS’ TRAINING CAMP ARRIVALS JULY 27th 2008
by Dale GrdnicLATROBE, Pa. - The parade of high-end vehicles, also known as the opening of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, began in earnest late Sunday morning and continued until all players were expected to report by 4 p.m.
In the irony of ironies department, Steelers place-kicker Jeff Reed parked the oversized promotional truck he picked up from JoeBall.com, which is advertised several times on the vehicle, next to wideout Jeremy Bloom’s hybrid car, which was half electric- and half gasoline-powered.
Reed's truck, a C-4500 diesel with wide side mirrors and a flatbed behind an extended cab that could limit it from parking in many two-car garages, appeared to be more for commercial use than personal.
"It's got all the bells and whistles, but I guess you could just run over a bunch of construction cones, like I did,'' Reed said. "Coming through Monroeville was pretty tough for me, because I never drove anything that big in my life. It's really big. I think it's made for pulling a horse, but it just pulled me today.''
Bloom's little car was dwarfed by Reed's monstrosity, but that didn't matter to the diminutive wideout.
"It's pretty cool, because when it idles at red lights, you don't burn any gas,'' Bloom said. "So far, I like it a lot.''
Safety Tyrone Carter pulled up in a Super Duty F-350. The large truck had a Florida license plate and a custom paint job with the initials TC on the back of the truck. Carter said he needs it to pull his boat. But that stayed at home. Carter only brought the truck and a few bags to camp.
Offensive lineman Jason Capizzi, who began his college career at the University of Pittsburgh and ended it at IUP, drove up in a rather pedestrian truck. But that's not surprising for someone who needed a lot of frequent-flier miles last season. His one-year NFL career already has spanned four cities.
As a rookie in 2007, Capizzi originally was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent and then spent time on three NFL practice squads -- the New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs - and alternated throughout the group during the season. He ended it on the Steelers active roster, but was inactive for the playoff loss to Jacksonville.
"Remember, I had to fill out a different 1099 form for each different team,'' Capizzi said. "That was a real pain, but eventually it all worked out. And now, I'm back with the Steelers. Hopefully, I'll stick around a lot longer this time.''
Steelers’ third-year player Santonio Holmes might be considered to be a Ferrari among NFL wideouts, fast and smooth, but he arrived in a Regency limousine. Not a long, stretch limo by any means, but he was driven to camp nonetheless.
Marvel Smith arrived with a T-shirt that proclaimed "Show Me the $$$$$,'' as he is in the final season of his contract and is looking for an extension sometime soon. However, since Smith is coming off a season that was ended early due to back surgery, he might have to play for a new deal just to prove he can do it.
Speaking of Smith, he and fellow offensive linemen Kendall Simmons and Max Starks were looking lean and mean with an emphasis on lean. When asked how much weight he dropped, Starks said "just 10 pounds.'' If that's true, he must have been a lot lighter than his listed playing weight of 345 pounds.
Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed presumably didn't arrive on the rookie bus because each signed a new contract that would allow them to join the parade of high-end vehicles as soon as possible.
Mendenhall, the Steelers first-round draft pick, came to terms on a five-year, $12.55 million contract. Mendenhall's deal includes bonuses of $6.83 million, guarantees of $7,125,000 and a total cash value of $9,855,000 with an escalator that makes the contract worth $12.55 million.
Sweed, a second-round choice, agreed to a four-year contract.
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