Santonio out to prove Steelers made mistake.

[zulater]

Bart Scott knows how he would feel if he were Santonio Holmes getting ready to play the Steelers.

“I’d be ready to put it in their face and shove it down their throat,” the Jets linebacker said yesterday.

Holmes was a bit more diplomatic, though deep down the sentiment has to be the same.

“It’s been on my mind for quite some time,” he said. “Now I get a chance to play against these guys I played with for four years. Now it’s definitely time to show these guys, ‘Why did they let me go?’ ”

Holmes is saving his emotional build up for Sunday at Heinz Field, where he plays against the team that traded him to the Jets in April for a fifth-round draft pick.Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/santonio_out_to_prove_steelers_made_60Yx3SnLpES3aO hGNM5lTP#ixzz18HPpvIJF

[43Hitman]

"Why did they let me go?"

Are you freaking kidding me Santonio? You'd still be here if you could keep your hands off of the ganja till you retired you freaking dumbass.

[zulater]

Just real quickly I want to make a few points about why the Steelers were absolutely correct in how they handled Santonio.

First off, for those that claim the team was damaged by this move, how? We're 10-3, so what game are we winning with Holmes that we lost? The Ravens game? Sorry, he wasn't eligible for that one due to a league suspension. The Patriots game? Not hardly, that just wasn't our day, no one player would have made that much of a difference. The Saints game? Possibly, it was close enough that one play certainly could have turned it. But if we're going to say that, who's to say that santonio wouldn't have lost us one of the games we ended up winning? Holmes had decisive drops that greatly influenced last year losses against the Bears, and both Bengals games. Plus his poor blitz recogniction cost Ben a pick six in one of the Bengals games.

There's just no way of knowing is there? Frankly I'd say it's safe to say we'd be the same 10-3 with him as we are without him. But, going foward we'd be much worse off. How so, well for one thing, Antonio Brown almost certainly would have had to have been waived. Can only keep so many receivers. And with Santonio suspended you had to bring in A.R.E to stabilize things for the first 4 games. Also there was no way the Steelers were going to extend Holmes, he was gone after this season period. He's one strike away from a year's vacation, and being as he already broke his word to Tomlin once, why on earth would you trust him going foward?

Now obviously it would have been nice to get more in the way of compensation than a 5th round pick, but the league knew that Holmes was facing a 4 game suspension for weed, combined with the situation he got himself in down in florida, and that just wasn't happening. Rex Ryan was the only loose cannon out there willing to offer any draft pick, so they took it, and parlayed it into Bryan McFadden, and here we stand today.

[Butch]

Now obviously it would have been nice to get more in the way of compensation than a 5th round pick, but the league knew that Holmes was facing a 4 game suspension for weed, combined with the situation he got himself in down in florida, and that just wasn't happening. Rex Ryan was the only loose cannon out there willing to offer any draft pick, so they took it, and parlayed it into Bryan McFadden, and here we stand today.

I like Santonio despite his errors in judgment but the worst part in all this was the very last statement. We only got a 5th and that to me was reactionary. We didn't have to pull the trigger so quickly.

[salamander]

10-3 > 9-4. Enough said.

Puff puff pass.

[venom]

I read the article this morning also . He also said that he pulled himself out of the game last week ( punt returns ) vs the Dolphins because their punter was punting the ball very high and far and couldn't do anything on returns. Awwwwww, poor baby .

[salamander]

I read the article this morning also . He also said that he pulled himself out of the game last week ( punt returns ) vs the Dolphins because their punter was punting the ball very high and far and couldn't do anything on returns. Awwwwww, poor baby .

:baby: :baby: :baby:

[BigPoppaG]

I like his comment about sharing information about the Steelers with his JET teammates and coaches. You know it's going to happen but pretty classless to mention it. Then again they have a 12th man on the sideline anyhow. Not like they need any help from Tone.:heh:

[BuddhaBus]

Santonio then added...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFh9pHJrauk&feature=related

[SteelerFanInStl]

One of these days Tone will realize that it was his own stupidity that got him traded. I didn't like the trade when it happened but I understood it. His actions since then have enforced the idea that it was the correct move. Tone will continue to do the things that have gotten him in trouble and could find himself out of the NFL because of it.

[BlastFurnace]

Santonio...if you've grown up into "a man" like you claim you have, then you should be able to look back in time and see why they gave up on you. You just weren't a repeat offender...you were a habitual offender.

Speaking for myself only....I loved watching you play. I never wanted you gone. I hoped you would retire as a Steeler. You were one of my favorite Steelers. Unfortunately, you didn't care about your fans or your teammates. You wrote your own ticket out of town.

The only fault I lay at the Steelers feet is getting a paultry 5th round pick for you. We got ripped off.

[zulater]

I like Santonio despite his errors in judgment but the worst part in all this was the very last statement. We only got a 5th and that to me was reactionary. We didn't have to pull the trigger so quickly.

I liked Santonio too. But I really think the Steelers hand was forced, and there really wasn't any market out there for him. The simple fact that the Steelers were willing to part company with him, knowing the type of talent he is, was red flag number one, looming four game suspension to start the season was red flag number two, incident in Florida ( overblown as it was, though hanging out at strip clubs at that time of night is never good judgement) was strike three. Then for good measure you have impending free agency, and Santonio's run away twitter account( "wake and bake" really sound like the sort of guy you want to invest a huge signing bonus in?) and combine all that, and there's no way in hell anyone is giving you draft pick in the first 3 rounds for Stonio.

So maybe with some patience you could have got a 4th round pick? But I doubt it, the Jets were the only team willing to give anything, and they aren't so stupid as to bid against themselves, thus we got what we got. The bottom line was once you decided the need was there to move him, the quicker the better so you could get on with the business of replacing him with viable options. Thus the move was made for what they could salvage of the situation.

[crcsnail]

nice post zulater. although i liked him as a player a lot .i also think he had to go .

[zulater]

One other thing. I'm not one of those people who think that it's a given that Holmes will screw up again and get that year suspension for a drug violation, or smack a hoe or girlfriend again and get himself in jail. But I do think the chances of Holmes screwing up again would have been a lot greater if he hadn't been shown the door by the Steelers. He needed a wakeup call, I don't think the 4 game suspension on it's own would have been enough to make Santonio understand how poor a path he's chosen to follow.

[steelerdude15]

Whatever you say Holmes, whatever you say.

[steeldevil]

Well of course he is out to do that, its called human nature... But it is the Steelers job to stop him.

[Edman]

The only think I regret is the Steelers only getting a 5th round pick for Santonio.

I liked Santo and I didn't want to see him go. But the Steelers have already issued him warnings to keep his head out of trouble. He got busted for pot again and had to sit out the first four games of the season, if he gets busted for pot one more time (and he will), then he's done for a year.

Santo just had too much baggage to be worth a new contract.

[GodfatherofSoul]

So, does he have conclusive proof his drug tests were wrong? He actually *didn't* beat his girlfriend? OK, let's resign him then!

[Craic]

I like Santonio despite his errors in judgment but the worst part in all this was the very last statement. We only got a 5th and that to me was reactionary. We didn't have to pull the trigger so quickly.

Ever think that was ALL WE COULD GET? He was a problem player 1 mistake from a full year's suspension. He already was slated to miss a quarter of the games.. and will miss ALL the game for an ENTIRE YEAR the next time it happens. What team, in their right mine, will trade a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd draft pick for that? Heck, even a 4?

I doubt very much that the Steelers would have received anything better. Heck, they may have got worse had they waited.

[BlastFurnace]

Ever think that was ALL WE COULD GET? He was a problem player 1 mistake from a full year's suspension. He already was slated to miss a quarter of the games.. and will miss ALL the game for an ENTIRE YEAR the next time it happens. What team, in their right mine, will trade a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd draft pick for that? Heck, even a 4?

I doubt very much that the Steelers would have received anything better. Heck, they may have got worse had they waited.

We will never be able to prove it, but the Jets have said that they were the first call the Steelers made. My problem more that they traded him within the AFC. I would have rather traded him to some NFC team for a 7th round pick in 2020 than to a contender in the AFC.

In either case, we got BMAC and Antonio Brown out of the deal. I have always liked BMAC, and I think Brown will eventually be a star.

[fansince'76]

One other thing. I'm not one of those people who think that it's a given that Holmes will screw up again and get that year suspension for a drug violation, or smack a hoe or girlfriend again and get himself in jail.

I wish I had that much faith. He's another million-dollar talent with a ten-cent head, IMO. I think it's just a matter of time before he gets pulled over by a cop while smoking a blunt again.

[st33lersguy]

If Santonio wants to prove them wrong he should stop getting arrested

[Count Steeler]

Leave it on the field Santonio. Let's see if Sanchez can find you.

[GoSlash27]

@'Tone: If you had acted more conciliatory about the weed instead of defiantly proclaiming that you weren't gonna change, you would still be on this team. We didn't let you go because you were a bad WR, we let you go because you were a bad Steeler. There's nothing you can do on the field tomorrow afternoon to change our minds.

Now... if you were to publicly proclaim that you had been a jackass all these years and showed & proved your dedication to becoming a better person, we'd be happy to pick you up on free agency.

[memphissteelergirl]

If Santonio wants to prove them wrong he should stop getting arrested


Ding....ding....ding! We have a winner!!

[Stlrs4Life]

Are you freaking kidding me Santonio? You'd still be here if you could keep your hands off of the ganja till you retired you freaking dumbass.

No he wouldn't. He would have wanted way too much to stay. We would of lost him to FA with nothing in return.

[zulater]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/sports/football/19holmes.html

Being Father Helps Lead Jets’ Holmes Out of His Shell

In the third quarter of Super Bowl XLIII, Santonio Holmes III fell asleep in the stands. He awoke just before his father caught the winning touchdown pass for the Pittsburgh Steelers, sprinted down the stairs and jumped into his arms, creating an instant, indelible image, which remains his father’s favorite.
That game took place less than two years ago, even if it sometimes feels like two lifetimes. That was before Santonio Holmes Jr. fell from favor in Pittsburgh, before the Jets acquired him for a measly fifth-round pick, before sickle cell anemia repeatedly sent Santonio III to the hospital, the most recent trip this month.

As Holmes, 26, and the Jets head to Pittsburgh for a Sunday contest filled with playoff implications, he talks with and thinks often about his firstborn. Santonio III, 8, lives here, outside Atlanta, with his mother and younger brother, Nicori. They toss footballs painted Steelers colors. They play the Steelers on Madden NFL 10. But they, too, understand the conflicting emotions prompted by their father’s return to Pittsburgh.

“Go, Jets,” Nicori, 6, said recently. “I curse the Steelers!”

Holmes always figured he would play his entire career with Pittsburgh, the franchise that drafted him in the first round in 2006. He won Super Bowl most valuable player honors with his graceful tiptoe grab. He gained more than 1,200 receiving yards in 2009. Last week, his former coach Mike Tomlin called Holmes a “dynamic playmaker,” and his former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger described Holmes as “a special kind of player.”

Yet Pittsburgh traded its special, dynamic playmaker, still very much in his prime, in the equivalent of an N.F.L. garage sale. The Steelers were fed up with Holmes’s behavior: a 2006 domestic-violence charge (later dismissed); a 2008 marijuana charge (also dismissed); a four-game suspension, served this season, for violating the league’s drug policy.

“We thought it was best for all parties involved,” Tomlin said.

Although shocked by the trade, Holmes never expressed outwardly that it bothered him. That is partly because he is not emotional by nature. He comes across as quiet, reserved, mistrustful and occasionally moody. He can be playful and humorous, but even teammates say they rarely see that side of him.

But Holmes speaks regularly with all his children — he also has two daughters — and he tells Santonio III to remain strong despite his illness. Because of that, Holmes must set an example, must show similar strength.

He met his sons’ mother, Nicole King, now 25, at Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Fla. She went into labor shortly before Holmes’s graduation, and they found out at birth that Santonio had sickle cell anemia, an incurable, hereditary blood disease.

“In the hospital, they kept him under a blue light, and that was difficult,” Holmes said last week in a quiet moment at his locker. “Knowing I couldn’t play with him, or touch him, or talk to him, doing all the things you do when you first have a kid.”

King wanted to name him Cameron. Holmes had other ideas. He left soon after for Ohio State but said he did not regret the time he missed with Santonio III over the next three years. He wanted to provide for the boy, and the best way to do that, he reasoned, was to take care of business on the field.

Early on, Santonio III required only one or two trips to the hospital each year. But when King moved to Atlanta two years ago, his health declined. He had high fevers and pain so extreme, mostly in his joints, that doctors used morphine during hospital visits.

He takes penicillin and folic acid daily, and even so, he requires regular trips to the hospital. Last year, he contracted pneumonia and his left lung collapsed. He spent a recent Saturday in the emergency room, with pain shooting up his right leg. Holmes calmed him over the phone, told him not to worry, to listen to his doctors.

The scariest moment for the parents took place last summer, when Santonio III was old enough to have laparoscopic surgery to remove his spleen. It had become so enlarged that it prevented him from playing contact sports or roughhousing with friends. Doctors made three small holes in his belly during surgery, and Santonio III followed his father’s advice.

Asked if he had been afraid of the surgery, he laughed, then said, “I was asleep the whole time.”

Santonio III has since joined the running club at school despite breathing issues related to his illness. He can be more active, and King says she hopes he can join a football team next season.

The boy is the spitting image of his father: same thin facial features; same dark, penetrating eyes; same shy demeanor. “He looks just like him,” King said. “Like I didn’t have nothing to do with it.”

The brothers say they want to follow their father into football, although Nicori listed artist among his backup plans. Both aim to attend Ohio State and play receiver, and whenever their father visits, they enlist him in all their favorite activities: video games, football, basketball and back flips on the trampoline out back.

They spend summers with him before training camp, and Holmes said he speaks to them three times each week, often video chatting.

On a recent visit, they asked about center Nick Mangold, whom they called Goldilocks because of his long, blond hair. They played catch in the backyard. They drew plays inside a notebook, with instructions to show them to Uncle Mark, meaning quarterback Mark Sanchez, who on one play was supposed to catch a pass from Holmes. When Holmes showed this to Sanchez in the locker room, he exclaimed: “Getting the ball to the playmakers! I like it!”

This is one side of himself that Holmes rarely reveals. He is labeled the playmaker who sealed four Jets victories this season with last-minute heroics. He is labeled the troublemaker who left Pittsburgh after a series of incidents. But he is also a player who raises money for sickle cell disease research, a father who remains concerned about his son.

As the boys bounced on the trampoline, they had one more instruction. They wanted a visitor to tell Holmes that they missed him — and to remind him to beat the Steelers.

[43Hitman]

No he wouldn't. He would have wanted way too much to stay. We would of lost him to FA with nothing in return.

I meant for this year. I know he was gone when his contract expired at the end of this year, but he has to be a dumb ass for even asking why he was traded. The Jets may have a hard time resigning him as well. They have a lot of high priced free agents on that squad.