Joe Rutter stories, Page 109

Antonio Brown is back in the news again for all of the wrong reasons. The star Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, already the subject of trade rumors because of his behavior at the end of the season, was investigated for domestic misconduct against a woman in a January domestic dispute, according...

With the Super Bowl fresh in the history books, the New England Patriots have been installed as 6-1 favorites to win a seventh Lombardi Trophy after the 2019 season, according to the gambling site BetOnline.ag. The Pittsburgh Steelers, coming off a 9-6-1 season that did not include a playoff berth,...

Alan Faneca didn’t get the knock on his hotel room door for the fourth year in a row, which signified he missed the cut for the Pro Football Hall of Fame again. Aliquippa native Ty Law was more fortunate. Law was among five modern-era candidates selected Saturday, making the Hall...

Sometime on Saturday afternoon or evening, Alan Faneca will learn whether he has been selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As the late Tom Petty memorably sang, the waiting is the hardest part — at least for Faneca, a perennial Pro Bowl guard during his decade with the...

It might not happen for another season, but Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier remains set on resuming his NFL career despite his devastating spinal cord injury. “Yeah, definitely,” Shazier told New York station WFAN on Friday morning while visiting radio row at the Super Bowl in Atlanta. Shazier said he...

As time winds down on the latest chance to bid on Pittsburgh Steelers’ game-worn memorabilia, a 1980 Lynn Swann jersey has gotten a high bid of $19,488. The jersey worn by the Hall of Fame wide receiver is the top item in a collection of 32 Steelers-related memorabilia available for...

Making the media rounds at the Super Bowl in Atlanta, Hall of Fame wide receiver Hines Ward has not shied away in his criticism of former teammate Antonio Brown. Ward also used his time on radio row Thursday to target quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. It was Roethlisberger’s reported altercation with Brown...

Art Rooney II isn’t closing the door on Antonio Brown returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 10th season. In fact, the door may be open a little wider than in previous weeks. On a conference call with fans Wednesday, the Steelers president indicated the team can mend its fractured...

On the heels of a controversial call in the AFC championship game, Art Rooney II said it’s time for the NFL to re-examine the standards of roughing-the-passer penalties. The Pittsburgh Steelers president said Wednesday that NFL officials need to be “very consistent” in calling penalties on hits against quarterbacks. Rooney...

The Pittsburgh Steelers have started conversations about extending quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s contract, team president Art Rooney II said Wednesday afternoon. In a 20-minute conference call with Steelers Nation Unite members, Rooney said negotiations have started with Roethlisberger and his agent, Ryan Tollner. Roethlisberger has one year left on his contract,...

For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers are facing the prospect of playing a season without one of their star playmakers. While it’s too early to know what life will be like without wide receiver Antonio Brown in 2019, team president Art Rooney II liked the way...

A conversation Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II had with Mike Munchak in December may have been a clue into his offensive line coach’s future plans. Munchak left the Steelers last week after five seasons to accept the same job with the Denver Broncos. Munchak cited family reasons; his daughter...

After telling reporters it was “nonsense” that the Pittsburgh Steelers are an organization in disarray, team president Art Rooney II doubled down on his beliefs Friday. Rooney made the morning talk-show rounds, appearing on 102.5 FM and 93.7 FM to discuss the state of the Steelers three weeks after they...

Add outside linebacker T.J. Watt to the list of Pittsburgh Steelers players selected to participate in the Pro Bowl. Watt was added as an injury replacement Thursday. He will take the spot of Houston Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, who withdrew from the game because of injury. In his second NFL...

The Pittsburgh Steelers are turning to the college ranks for their new running backs coach. Eddie Faulker, who was Steelers rookie Jaylen Samuels’ position coach at N.C. State, will be hired to coach the team’s running backs, the NFL Network reported Wednesday. The position became available when James Saxon’s contract...

Ben Roethlisberger will celebrate his 37th birthday in March, right about the time he could receive a contract extension from the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 15-year veteran quarterback has one year left on his deal and historically has received an extension before the new NFL calendar begins. This year, the new...

Ryan Shazier still wants to resume his NFL career, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to figure out how to keep him on their payroll. Shazier will be a free agent in March but isn’t ready to resume football activities after missing the 2018 season with a spinal cord injury....

Antonio Brown will remain property of the Pittsburgh Steelers for at least the next two months — until the new NFL season begins. Beyond that? Steelers president Art Rooney isn’t optimistic that Brown’s nine-year career with the organization will extend past mid-March. “There aren’t many signs out there that that...

Art Rooney II is open to the Pittsburgh Steelers delegating an assistant coach to handle replay challenges and clock management issues for coach Mike Tomlin. Tomlin has not won a replay challenge in two seasons and he has come under criticism for use of timeouts and clock strategy in the...

A 1980 game-worn jersey sported by Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann is among the items up for auction at Lelands.com. A portion of the auction house’s Classic Auction Winter 2019 collection are 32 Steelers-related items, headed by the Swann jersey and a 2000 game-worn jersey by...

The eighth annual NFLPA Collegiate Bowl game will be well represented with players from district colleges. The all-star game, which consists of college seniors, will be played Jan. 19 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. It will include six players from Western Pennsylvania schools among the 112 participants on...

Guard David DeCastro became the second Pittsburgh Steelers player to withdraw from the Pro Bowl because of an undisclosed injury when he was replaced in the all-star game Thursday by Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio. Wide receiver Antonio Brown pulled out of the Pro Bowl last week with an injury....

With two tight ends set to hit free agency in March, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed former Pine-Richland and Youngstown State tight end Kevin Rader to a futures contract Wednesday. Rader was an undrafted free agent in 2018 and spent last summer in the Green Bay Packers’ training camp. Rader began...

It looks like Mike Munchak will be staying around to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line. Munchak was a finalist for the Denver Broncos’ coaching vacancy, but ESPN and NFL Network reported Wednesday afternoon that Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will get the job. Munchak, 58, has coached the...

Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a 12-part series breaking down the Pittsburgh Steelers at each position in the offseason. All salary cap information courtesy spotrac.com. Maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers would have run the ball more frequently — and perhaps more effectively — if Le’Veon Bell had reported for...