4 former steelers to retire tonight

[Devilsdancefloor]

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Four-former-Steelers-to-retire/accabaa4-a5b9-4c1e-8307-e67b693a585f

[polamalubeast]

Four former Steelers greats will announce their retirement at the team’s practice on Friday night at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.

Willie Parker, Joey Porter, Aaron Smith and Marvel Smith, all members of at least one Super Bowl winning team, are officially retiring as members of the Pittsburgh Steelers and will be honored prior to the practice.

The practice begins at 7 p.m., and tickets are $5.

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Four-former-Steelers-to-retire/accabaa4-a5b9-4c1e-8307-e67b693a585f

[suitanim]

Nice to see Porter, Smith and Parker back in the fold.

[polamalubeast]

Willie Parker is one of the most underrated players of the steelers in the last 20 years

Before his injury against the Rams in 2007, Parker was one of the best RB in the nfl

[86WARD]

Some good Steelers names there...congrats to them all!!

[43Hitman]

Do any of y'all know if there will be some sort of radio coverage of tonight's practice?

[steelpride12]

Woot lucky me I live 5 minutes from Latrobe and I'll be there. I'll take my camera and try to get some video and pictures for you guys :D

[43Hitman]

Woot lucky me I live 5 minutes from Latrobe and I'll be there. I'll take my camera and try to get some video and pictures for you guys :D

That would be great!

[steelerdude15]

We've had a lot of Steelers retire this year. I think this will be four through seven now. Hines, Chris, Joey, Aaron, Marvel, Willie, and Kordell. I wonder when James will retire.

[Devilsdancefloor]

i have been wondering about potsie and i was hopeing heas going to be one of the 4, but i was surprised to see marvel name instead. i guess he could be upset and needs to take some time before he can "retire" :noidea:

[steelpride12]

Now we gotta get Kuhnnnnnnnn to retire as a Stiiler.

[steelreserve]

Nice to see Porter, Smith and Parker back in the fold.

Porter and the Smiths, yes. Parker I'm more just relieved that I'll never have to worry about him touching the football for us again.

[86WARD]

No instead you have to worry about Mendenhall holding onto it...lol...

[Count Steeler]

Should be a nice night in Latrobe. Wish I could be there.

[Chidi29]

There are never any "former" Steelers. Once a Steeler, always a Steeler.

[tube517]

There are never any "former" Steelers. Once a Steeler, always a Steeler.

Unfortunately, this includes Kent Graham. :chuckle:

[Chidi29]

Unfortunately, this includes Kent Graham. :chuckle:

You're not supposed to mention that name here.

[tube517]

You're not supposed to mention that name here.

:chuckle:

[Craic]

Porter and the Smiths, yes. Parker I'm more just relieved that I'll never have to worry about him touching the football for us again.

:chuckle:

After seeing Mendenhall's career going the same way as Parker's, you're still not willing to admit it had more to do with the horrible O'line?

[polamalubeast]

As I said, Parker is very underrated

Willie was one of the best RB in the NFL before his injury against the Rams in 2007



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHIgiOKBGwQ

[Psycho Ward 86]

loved all of them. happy retirement fellas. dont be back in the news for the wrong reasons!

[steelreserve]

:chuckle:

After seeing Mendenhall's career going the same way as Parker's, you're still not willing to admit it had more to do with the horrible O'line?

Mendenhall has had a shitty O-Line for his entire career and did fine. Except for last year, when he adopted Parker's style for some reason.

Parker just flat-out sucked unless he had three Pro Bowlers on the line, or unless we were playing someone like the Browns, who were bad enough that it was like handing us three All-Pros.

[GodfatherofSoul]

Wow, WP looked incredible in those highlights. I guess it was the post-injury years that tarnished his memory.

[polamalubeast]

Mendenhall has had a shitty O-Line for his entire career and did fine. Except for last year, when he adopted Parker's style for some reason.

Parker just flat-out sucked unless he had three Pro Bowlers on the line, or unless we were playing someone like the Browns, who were bad enough that it was like handing us three All-Pros.

3 pro bowlers?!?!


no RB is good against Ravens


One big problem for Willie Parker is that in 2006 and 2007, there were no good backup behind him....
Willie had too much carried...With less carried, Parker would have been more efficient


But Parker has had three seasons of 1,200 yards and he was incredible to make the big play

Unfortunately, Parker is not respected at its fair value in Pittsburgh

[polamalubeast]

Parker is also the 3rd best RB in the history of the Steelers and he won two Super Bowl as starter


http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/career-rushing.htm


Parker deserves more respect

[steelerdude15]

I always felt that Willie wasn't the same after he broke his leg. He also had other issues like for instance when he first started, he wouldn't breathe when he would run. :chuckle: Anyways, two Super Bowl rings and a record, I wouldn't complain.

[polamalubeast]

I always felt that Willie wasn't the same after he broke his leg. He also had other issues like for instance when he first started, he wouldn't breathe when he would run. :chuckle: Anyways, two Super Bowl rings and a record, I wouldn't complain.

100% agree

Parker was painful to watch after his injury

But before his injury, he was one of the best RB in the NFL and he was an unbelievable playmaker

[steelerdude15]

100% agree

Parker was painful to watch after his injury

But before his injury, he was one of the best RB in the NFL and he was an unbelievable playmaker

He had speed, that's for sure. He had a great mentor in Jerome for his early years.

[SteelGhost]

Now we gotta get Kuhnnnnnnnn to retire as a Stiiler.

...and Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeed ! :lol:

[XxKnightxX]

Wow, WP looked incredible in those highlights. I guess it was the post-injury years that tarnished his memory.

You know who didnt? Sean Mahan, My god he tipped which way the play was going every time, watch closely.

[zulater]

I wish they would invite Randle El to the party. And I agree Parker was underrated by many Steeler fans. He was a good back, not great, but real good.

[steelreserve]

Wow, WP looked incredible in those highlights. I guess it was the post-injury years that tarnished his memory.

Panthers .. .Bengals ... Chiefs ... Browns ... Panthers ... Chiefs ... Bengals ... Chiefs ... get the idea? everyone looks incredible against teams like that.


3 pro bowlers?!?!
no RB is good against Ravens

Yes - M. Smith, Hartings and Faneca were all Pro Bowlers, and not 5 years before Parker's time or anything like that.

I'd give your second point some credit if Parker only had trouble against the Ravens, but he sucked against any team that was halfway decent. You know how the Bengals didn't beat anyone with a winning record last year but still made the playoffs and everyone thought they were good based on the numbers? That was Parker's whole career.

If we'd won two Super Bowls in spite of Walter Abercrombie, that still wouldn't make him a very good RB either.

[polamalubeast]

The o-line of the steelers were horrible in 2006 .... In fact, almost the entire team was awful in 2006, but Parker had 1494 yards and 13 TD! Parker was always a threat for a big play and it did scare the opposing team

Parker was not good against good defense??? .... it's a big myth(Super bowl XL!)!

[steelreserve]

The o-line of the steelers were horrible in 2006 .... In fact, almost the entire team was awful in 2006, but Parker had 1494 yards and 13 TD! Parker was always a threat for a big play and it did scare the opposing team

Go look at his game stats from that year. He got almost a third of his yards from two games, against New Orleans (#23 run defense) and Cleveland (#29). The rest he had 7 decent games and the other 7 went 11/20, 14/57, 20/47, 16/46, 10/22, 22/61, 13/29.

So yeah, he piled up a season's worth of stats in a few games, then was so bad that he jeopardized the entire offense for almost half the season. That basically shows me a guy who's too inconsistent to depend on, and a huge liability. It's the same exact way that even when he was having a "good" game, he was a liability because most of his yards came on a few big plays. More than half the time, he would jeopardize the drive with a series of 0- and 1-yard gains. It's no wonder we sucked that year.


Parker was not good against good defense??? .... it's a big myth(Super bowl XL!)!

First of all, Seattle was not a good defense that year; they were in the bottom half overall and #22 against the run.

Second, he had one lucky run in that game, where he was fortunate enough that the offensive line opened such a huge hole that Butterbean could've run through it. The rest of the game he had 18 yards on 9 carries - or in other words pretty typical of what masquerades as a "big performance" for him when he was actually hurting the team for 95% of the game.

I still cannot believe how many people there are who make fun of "all the fantasy football know-it-alls" and also claim Parker was a good running back. That guy was probably the #1 example all-time of a player who put up good fantasy football numbers and filled out a stat sheet but was terrible in practical football terms. There's a reason he was out of the league as soon as we found a decent RB to replace him.

[polamalubeast]

Go look at his game stats from that year. He got almost a third of his yards from two games, against New Orleans (#23 run defense) and Cleveland (#29). The rest he had 7 decent games and the other 7 went 11/20, 14/57, 20/47, 16/46, 10/22, 22/61, 13/29.

So yeah, he piled up a season's worth of stats in a few games, then was so bad that he jeopardized the entire offense for almost half the season. That basically shows me a guy who's too inconsistent to depend on, and a huge liability. It's the same exact way that even when he was having a "good" game, he was a liability because most of his yards came on a few big plays. More than half the time, he would jeopardize the drive with a series of 0- and 1-yard gains. It's no wonder we sucked that year.


Yes, he had some less good game, but the opponents were only focused to stopped Parker, since Roethlisberger was awful in 2006......It is not always easy to play well when your QB is bad

Without Parker in 2006, the Steelers would have ended the season with a record of 5-11 or 6-10.....The steelers was terrible in 2006



First of all, Seattle was not a good defense that year; they were in the bottom half overall and #22 against the run.

The Seahawks were 5th against the run in 2005



Second, he had one lucky run in that game, where he was fortunate enough that the offensive line opened such a huge hole that Butterbean could've run through it. The rest of the game he had 18 yards on 9 carries - or in other words pretty typical of what masquerades as a "big performance" for him when he was actually hurting the team for 95% of the game.



First, the run of Parker was not lucky....Yes, the o-line was unbelievable on this play, but without the speed of Parker, it was not a TD....Without this long run, the Steelers have maybe lost this super bowl


And the long runs of Parker has often had a big impact on the team...The game against the Saints in 2006 is a good example....Yes, Parker was inconsistent, but he was a game changer..And I hate when I hear that Parker was nothing without its long run...It's like saying that Barry Sanders was nothing without its long run



There's a reason he was out of the league as soon as we found a decent RB to replace him.



The reason why that Parker is out of the league, it's because that Parker was not the same playmaker after his injury against the Rams

[Psycho Ward 86]

lol sorry i appreciate Parker a crap ton for what he's done for us, but he kind of was a pseudo-elite runningback in his prime. It really was excruciatingly rare to see him do well against a good team

[I-Want-Troy's-Hair]

Do any of y'all know if there will be some sort of radio coverage of tonight's practice?

they had this video on the steeler website

http://www.steelers.com/video-and-audio/videos/Friday-Night-Lights---Steelers-Night-Practice/f475137c-c430-4443-86a8-e3352de893e3

http://www.steelers.com/video-and-audio/videos/Friday-Night-Lights---Steelers-Night-Practice/f475137c-c430-4443-86a8-e3352de893e3#?id=f7c8daf3-d3dc-4705-bf92-bb8336e0757a&channelName=Interviews