Joe Rutter stories, Page 85

If the Pittsburgh Steelers have a chance to travel south of the border in the 2020 season, team president Art Rooney II is all for making the trip. “We continue to raise our hand and say that we’re interested in playing a game in Mexico,” Rooney told reporters earlier this...

Cracking a running back in the ribs, like he famously did to Earl Campbell in 1978, that was Donnie Shell’s forte. So was intercepting passes. Shell did that 51 times in a 14-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers — more than anyone before or since in the NFL at the...

For the first time in five seasons, Joe Haden is returning to the Pro Bowl. Haden, the veteran Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback, was named as an injury replacement Wednesday and will compete in the annual All-Star game Jan. 26 in Orlando, Fla. Haden will replace Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. He...

After the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ended short of a playoff berth for the second year in a row, coach Mike Tomlin said retaining outside linebacker Bud Dupree would be a “high priority” in the offseason. “I wouldn’t disagree with that,” team president Art Rooney II said Wednesday. In his fifth...

Kevin Colbert just completed his second decade with the Pittsburgh Steelers overseeing the franchise’s football operations. Team president Art Rooney II is hoping that tenure extends into a third. Colbert’s contract expires after the NFL Draft in April. Although Colbert, 63, has hinted at retirement, Rooney II said Wednesday that...

After a two-year absence, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a designated quarterbacks coach for the 2020 season. Matt Canada, who spent the 2016 season as the offensive coordinator at Pitt, was hired Tuesday by the Steelers. Canada, 47, last coached in 2018 when he served as the interim coach at...

Bill Cowher wasn’t the only member of the Pittsburgh Steelers to get advance warning about his selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. When the 15-member Centennial Slate was unveiled Wednesday morning during NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” telecast, former Steelers safety Donnie Shell arrived on set for an...

Jimbo Covert was in San Francisco on business Wednesday, so he set his alarm for 4 a.m. He didn’t want to sleep through one of the greatest moments of his life. The former Pitt and Chicago Bears offensive lineman had known for a week he was one of the finalists...

Despite the nickname he carried like a badge of honor and his reputation for nastiness on the football field, “Mean” Joe Greene never wished injury on an opponent during his 13-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I never was happy to see an opponent leave the game,” Greene said. He...

Devin Bush picked up another honor Tuesday after his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bush, the No. 10 overall pick in the NFL Draft, was voted to the Pro Football Writers of America’s all-rookie team. Bush was one of three linebackers named to the rookie team, joining San Francisco’s...

The width between NFL goal posts is 18 feet, 6 inches. If that distance looked smaller than a parking space to Chris Boswell in 2018, it had to look wider than the Allegheny River last season. The biggest special teams question mark for the Pittsburgh Steelers heading into the season,...

The worst fears for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense were realized in the second week of the season when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger exited at halftime against the Seattle Seahawks and never played another down. With his departure, the Steelers went from possessing one of the top passing offenses in 2018 to...

Troy Polamalu is one vote away from making the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. The former Pittsburgh Steelers safety was among 15 players named a finalist for the Hall of Fame on Thursday. Polamalu spent 12 seasons with the Steelers, making the Pro Bowl...

It seemed like a curious decision at the time. On Sept. 16, the day it was announced quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would be out for the season because of an elbow injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a bold move. However, it wasn’t to address Roethlisberger’s injury and fortify the most important...

Mike Tomlin began conducting exit interviews with his Pittsburgh Steelers players Tuesday, meeting first with players on the practice squad, rookies and those with expiring contracts. After talking to his veteran players, Tomlin will move on to evaluating his assistant coaches. Following an 8-8 season, changes to Tomlin’s staff could...

The top two quarterbacks for the Pittsburgh Steelers finished the season on injured reserve, and they will resume that hierarchy once they return to health. That was the word from coach Mike Tomlin, who gave an early endorsement to Mason Rudolph serving as the backup to franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger...

Five things we learned from Ravens 28, Steelers 10: 1. Repeat performance It wasn’t just that the Steelers scored one offensive touchdown for the eighth time in the past nine games. It was the way the offense stagnated more than at any other time this season that stood out in...

BALTIMORE – The longest tenured player on the field Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers is preparing for an uncertain future. Guard Ramon Foster, who completed his 11th season with the organization, acknowledged after a 28-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens he might have played his final down with the Steelers....

Defining moments of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season heading into the regular-season finale often can’t be confined to one specific moment or play. The precise instance of Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending elbow injury can be traced to sometime in the first half against Seattle when he began wincing after throws. Or perhaps...

With James Conner unable to finish the regular season with a thigh injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers will turn back to a committee approach Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Jaylen Samuels, Trey Edmunds and rookies Benny Snell Jr. and Kerrith Whyte will fill various roles if the Steelers stick to the...

Mr. Big Chest is in the Big Easy — at least for one day. Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, who is a free agent while the NFL investigates sexual misconduct claims against him, spent Friday at a tryout conducted by the New Orleans Saints. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported...