The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
GIO CALABRO FROM EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, NJ: I was just a kid during the 1970s Super Bowl run, and with training camp not far away it had me wondering what the daily battle with Joe Greene vs. Mike Webster was like. Did either get the best of the other, or was it more of a daily "stalemate" between these Pro Bowl players?
ANSWER: One of the things I remember about those teams was that when Coach Chuck Noll would order the Oklahoma Drill, one of the regular matchups had Mike Webster pitted against Jack Lambert. Because of a weight/strength advantage and the close quarters of the drill, Webster usually got the better of the matchup, and that often left Lambert fuming about "getting held." Webster always found that humorous and wasn't shy about letting Lambert know he felt that way.
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RAY HALL FROM LAS VEGAS, NV: Will our rookie Will Howard be given the chance to compete as the No. 1 QB?
ANSWER: The way things usually work in a camp under Coach Mike Tomlin is that rookies and other new young players start out toward the bottom of the depth chart, and then if they show themselves to be better than that through consistent performance/improvement in practices then they are moved up. Coach Bill Cowher operated the same way. In 2004 for example, No. 1 pick Ben Roethlisberger opened camp behind both Tommy Maddox and Charlie Batch, and it was only after Batch injured a knee and was forced to the injured reserve list that Roethlisberger started getting repetitions with other second-team players on offense. Will Howard won't be precluded from winning the starting job, but rookies just have a little bit more "prove-it" to do along the way.
JOE WERNER FROM WEST HENRIETTA, NY: Have the Steelers ever come out and stated an opposition to letting a player wear No. 0, or is it just a coincidence that no one has worn that number for the Steelers since the NFL made it legal again a few years ago?
ANSWER: The Steelers have never come out and stated an opposition to a player wearing the No. 0.
BRIAN HILAIRE FROM ATLANTA, GA: I am a long-time reader, and I am curious why you continue to answer the same question about the Steelers drafts. Your answer is always the same: 1974. And Joe Greene is typically your answer to the best all-time Steelers player. Why do you continue to answer this?
ANSWER: I am the long-time writer of Asked and Answered, and I have never understood why some readers seem to believe it's their responsibility to critique other readers' questions. In terms of silly questions, ones such as those are at the top of the list.
MIKE POWELL FROM UNIVERSAL CITY, TX: There have been several formidable defensive lines in NFL history, I think none more so than the Steel Curtain of L.C. Greenwood, Joe Greene, Ernie Holmes, and Dwight White. Could you speak to perhaps the most unheralded of the four in Ernie Holmes? It seems I recall stories that, if the Steelers could have kept him focused on his job, he could have been a perennial Pro Bowl selection, that he had talent that almost rivaled the great Greene. I remember his arrowhead haircut. An interesting character in Steelers lore.
ANSWER: Ernie Holmes came to the Steelers as a No. 8 pick (203rd overall) in the 1971 NFL Draft from Texas Southern. He became a full-time starter in 1972 and became the final piece of the original Steel Curtain front four that once was featured on the cover of Time Magazine. Holmes was listed at 6-foot-3, 260-pounds, but he was heavier than that and weight would become an issue for him as his career progressed. Holmes was credited with 39.5 sacks in his 81 regular season games with the Steelers (58 starts), and he led the team in sacks in 1974 with 11.5 and in 1975 with 8.5. Joe Greene carried the nickname "Mean Joe," but nobody in the NFL wanted to mess with Ernie Holmes, and his battles with guard Gene Upshaw in those wars with the Oakland Raiders were brutal. In fact, the only man in the Steelers locker room to whom Holmes ever deferred was Greene. After the 1977 season, the Steelers traded Holmes to New England, and his NFL career ended after three games with the Patriots. Holmes died in a car crash on Jan. 17, 2008, in Lumberton, Texas. He was 59.
JOHN FURJANIC FROM LITTLETON, CO: Traveling to Europe requires a passport and additionally an ETA (European Travel Information and Authorization) for the UK and an ETSIA (a mandatory, paid-for authorization required for for visa-exempt nationals traveling by air) for Germany. Are players personally responsible to get these documents or does the team/NFL manage? What about practice squad players or a non-roster player who might be signed or promoted to the 53-man squad shortly before an International Game?
ANSWER: In the case of the Steelers, their International Game is in Dublin, which is in Ireland – not the UK or Germany – but the team is making sure all players on the 90-man roster have the required documents to travel to and from Ireland. I don't know what other NFL teams do.
