Still crazy after all these years

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs: Getty … made clear who the top team in the AFC-North is Travis Kelce is arguably the best tight end in the NFL, and he is a member of the team that has been the class of the AFC the past three years.  Last year, the Chiefs edged past the Cleveland Browns, 22-17, to earn their second Super Bowl berth in the past two years.  And, what is surprising, Kelce believes that the Chiefs and Browns will be two of the top AFC teams — giving the Pittsburgh Steelers a warning that they may be on the way on in the AFC-North.  Kelce a Cleveland native As a person who grew up in Cleveland and rooted for the Browns most of his life, Kelce returned there and joined the Browns players at the Jarvis Landry celebrity softball tournament in mid-June.  The Browns fans are excited for a chance at their first Super Bowl after going 12-6 last year, including a victory over the Steelers and a great battle with the Chiefs.  Kelce thinks that...

David DeCastro: Tribune-Review … David DeCastro was a class act, a leader, and a three-time All-Pro. The release of three-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler David DeCastro shocked many Pittsburgh Steeler fans.  It should not have.  What now worries them is that the entire offensive line from 2020 is now gone.  Two of them were first-round draft picks and served as the foundation of the OL for the past decade, earning All-Pro and Pro-Bowl honors.  What we should not forget while listening to the praise for 65 percenter Mike Tomlin is that it has been a losing decade. Only three playoff wins in those ten years. Again, Mark Madden places it in perspective. 2021 OL “might be the NFL’s worst” Madden writes for the Tribune-Review that this has an “end-of-an-era vibe” for Tomlin and his offensive rag-a-muffins. After drafting a running back that they are calling a future hall-of-famer, the Steelers did not even draft an offensive lineman in the first or second rounds....

Tunch Ilkin played offensive tackle for the Steelers for 12 years … was a great color man for Steelers radio Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS] can be such a debilitating disease, and former Pittsburgh Steeler offensive tackle has tackled that disease since last year.  Last week, the former athlete turned broadcaster announced that he was giving up his long-time duties as the color man for the Steeler radio broadcasts. He had team with super play-by-play man Bill Hillgrove and his former teammate Craig Wolfley to make up a great radio team.  How good were they? I often would turn off the volume on the national TV broadcasts and listen to them describe the game, even though a time-lapse made it a little different than the actual TV show.  Did not want a retirement announcement Ilkin said goodbye last week without really wanting to do so, Standing on a balcony overlooking the practice fields at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Tunch Ilkin watched the Pittsburgh Ste...

Kirk Herbstreit was diagnosed with Covid in December: Photo Getty … “After 5 months...is this my new normal or will taste and smell come back???” For those Covid-19 deniers, the story of a nationally-known broadcaster is resonating throughout the sports world. Kirk Herbstreit is an Emmy-award winning sportscaster for ESPN, but since earlier this year, he has suffered from the remnants of the coronavirus.  That became all too clear last week when he tweeted that he was still suffering from the devastating effects of the disease.  While Herbstreit, a former quarterback from Ohio State, not America’s favorite football school, is often controversial in some circles, many still felt sorry for the essence of what he said. The Tweet Herbstreit made his dilemma known to the public last week in something that shocked many people since his Covid diagnosis was late last year, Kirk Herbstreit @KirkHerbstreit Jun 1 Been 5 months since I tested positive for Covid. Still ca...

… many positives, but many questions Many colleges and universities are either requiring or encouraging their students to take the Covid vaccine. This is part of the effort to reach “herd immunity,” which is the point where people have either received the vaccine or have had the virus. That would lead to negating the worst of the coronavirus.  To achieve that, 70 percent of the people will need to have one or the other, and the U.S. has a way to go to reach that — as does Pennsylvania.  For football fans who want to see games in person this fall, many are not thinking about herd immunity — but they should.  The new acting physician general of the state visited Penn State last week, but she was not ready for give any kind of diagnosis of what might happen in Beaver Stadium — or in any stadium.  Full or part capacity? A story about the Penn State visit outlined some of the issues facing the schools and the state as they wrestle with getting the pandemic pu...

Maybe Aaron should "get on with the rest of his life" like Chuck Noll told  Terry to do 40 years ago … recalls Mark Malone and Cliff Stoudt and his reaction to their drafting One thing you have to say about that septuagenarian Terry Bradshaw: He calls it like he sees it — something that he could not do as a player.  And at 72, he still has an impressive gig with Fox Sports where he can go on and on about the game — and people love him. Even more than they did as a player who won four Super Bowls in six years, earning MVP in the final two of them.  So, when he called out Green Bay diva extraordinaire Aaron Rodgers last week, no one should have been surprised.  Rodgers is simply being childish So, how did this problem start and get to the point when Terry has to call out a QB who will some day join him in the NFL Hall of Fame? Terry went on a popular talk show and did not hold back his disgust for Rodgers’ behavior since he insists that he will not pl...